14 DAY TRIAL // The sequel to the download only first-person shooter Blacklight: Tango Down, which is set to drop the post colon part of the title, will be delivered as a free to play game, with revenue for the developer derived from microtransactions.
The original Blacklight: Tango Down has been created by Zombie Studios and was only launched via download on the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and the PC.
Mark Long, who is the chief executive officer of Zombie Studios, has told Big Download that, “Free-to-play is the model in Asia. It's exploding in China growing fast in Europe and emerging here in Facebook and iOS games.”
The new game is set to offer a lot of new content, including vehicles and mechs that can be controlled by the player, with bigger maps to fight in and more abilities for player-made characters.
Tango Down, which was launched during the summer of 2010, was not too well received by reviewers, who saw it as mostly derivative and unable to match the features of AAA titles, but its initial low price of 15 dollars allowed it to move more than 100,000 units on Xbox Live in less than one month.
Blacklight from Zombies Studios is just the latest title to confirm that it will make the move to free to play in an effort to attract a bigger player base, from which a small segment would be willing to actually pay in order to get certain advantages in the game, like quicker level progression or smaller quest for certain maps.
Recently John Riccitiello, who is the chief executive officer for Electronic Arts, has stated that a card title like FIFA Ultimate Team, which is also built around microtransactions, has seen some players spend 5,000 dollars in one month on items.
The MMO Lord of the Rings Online has also seen its revenue triple since it made the move to free to play.