There was a time when all PC games were around 50 or 60 dollars, almost without exception, and no one considered that things could be sold for less. Additionally, there was a clear differentiation between releases hitting stores (or starting to sell on Steam) full price and those that ended up in old newsstands selling for $20 or less and were perceived as substandard video games.
Mobiles broke the market
That being said, these games at only 20 dollars imposed themselves and, quite quickly, some companies have taken advantage of this shift in perception to succeed. In Europe we have the example of FX Interactive, which was one of the first to see what the market trend would be in the years following the start of the new century. Although what no one expected was the emergence of smartphones as gaming platforms and the radical transformation they were going to force us to experience.
Indeed, with these cell phones came the so-called free2playthat’s to say, games that can be downloaded without unlocking a single euro and that they save all conceivable payments and disbursements for when they have already hooked us. In the beginning, these payments had to advance in the game (pay2win) and be able to complete them, although in the case of the PC the evolution was favorable to the player and all these objects that it was possible to obtain by paying only affected the cosmetic appearance of our characters.
The result of this kind is that if we look at the Top 15 most played releases on Steam, we find that about 60% are titles in which it is not necessary to pay a penny to start playing with them. And a clear sign of the times?
do you know how much free2play hay?
If we take a quick look at the Top 15 most popular games on Steam, i.e. those that users enjoy the most and which are breaking daily records for logged-in players, we will see that nine are completely free so you can access their official pages right now, download them and start enjoying them. This is the case of CSGO, DOTA 2, lost ark, Apex Legends, PUBG, Team Fortress 2, Not returned, Warhammer: Vermintide 2 there Destiny 2.
The other six that are paid are games like Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, GTA online, New world, Rust oh hell. Wait, we left one. Who? Well… you’re going to freak out.
The most amazing thing about the most played list on Steam in recent weeks is that it appears, intermittently among the most popular, a title which is not a video game and which is simply used to create wallpapers for the PC, specially developed that yes. Last week Wallpaper Engine came to maintain the third position within the digital store, only surpassed by CSGO there DOTA 2although it then fell to 25th position and, at the time of writing, has climbed back up to eighth place.
Don’t tell us why, but here it is, with its functions to generate live wallpapers and with many options to customize colors, 3D models, etc. Proof that users seem determined not to want to pay to play but to get certain cosmetic items that don’t just affect those free2play that we all have in mind, but also to the appearance of our PC desktop.
The thing is, every time fewer users want to pay (at the beginning) to play… don’t you think?
