The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Feeds

PlayStation Network to be flooded with freemium games

Sony keen on 'free to play, cough up to win' titles

Cloud based data management

The PlayStation Network may soon be awash with free-to-play games, after Sony announced its interest in the freemium approach and keenness to tap into the casual games market.

The company has changed its philosophy towards gaming and is now “open to any business model”, said Sony's US developer relations chief, Ted Regulski, Develop reports.

“One thing we’re working on quite a lot is free-to-play,” remarked Regulski at Games Developer Conference (GDC).

“Some developers say we’ll never allow freemium games on PlayStation but that’s really not the case.”

PSN already has a few freemium games, such as Free Realms which, according to Regulski, has "extremely healthy" virtual item purchases.

Free Realms

Mummy wouldn't pay

It was also talked up how Sony was the only major console publisher to allow self publishing, and that there were no weird limitations, with a greater royalty rate than what Nintendo or Microsoft offers, apparently.

The push towards attracting casual gamers arrives at a time when PS3 prices continue to fall and the console becomes a more affordable prospect to own.

It also comes just as Apple launches its iPad 3, said to offer a greater gaming experience than the current crop of home console setups. ®

Regcast training : Hyper-V 3.0, VM high availability and disaster recovery

Latest Comments

I want to thank Sony and

Guerilla Games for the Free to Play Killzone 3 multiplayer, and the double point XP for existing players weekend.

Thank you for all the newbies to shoot and the double points for shooting them and winning.

That leveiling up bar has not gone so fast as when I was in the middle ranks.

I <u>WILL</u> make Commander in Chief

Again thankyou for making it easier.

0
0

More from The Register

Samsung Galaxy Note 8: Proof the pen is mightier?
Sammy’s iPad Mini killer has a stylus to stab other rivals too
Microsoft lures buy-curious vixens, corduroys with a cheap fondle
Surface slab sales latest: Will no one rid Ballmer of these turbulent tabs?
First look: iOS 7 for iPad
No, Apple hasn't released it yet, but that doesn't stop intrepid devs
 breaking news
Curtain drops on Apple Store ahead of WWDC: What lies behind?
Steve Jobs watching from on high. No pressure, lads
 breaking news
Cold, dead hands of Steve Jobs slip from iPhones: The Cult of Ive is upon us
Billionaire biz baron's death clears way for uber-shiny iOS 7
Airbus imagines suitcases that find themselves
Point your mobe at your smalls to track their every move
Surprise! Intel smartphone trounces ARM in power trials
Tests show equal performance while sipping significantly less juice
Samsung plans LTE Advanced version of Galaxy S4
1Gbps download capability could stiffen drooping S4 sales forecasts
Apple said to be 'exploring' 5.7-inch iPhone
Who's the copycat this time, Mr. Cook?