He is also considering adding something similar to Steam's Early Access program to the PlayStation 4

Jan 9, 2015 08:53 GMT  ·  By

Sony Online Entertainment boss John Smedley believes that free-to-play games have a real market on consoles.

The information comes from an interview with Gamasutra, where Smedley cites Sony Online Entertainment's massively multiplayer online role-playing game DC Universe Online's success.

DC Universe Online initially started life as a paid game on PC and PlayStation 3 back in 2011, but its rise to success only occurred in 2013, when it was released as a free-to-play game.

The licensed superhero MMO is just one example of a free-to-play game doing well on consoles, with Smedley revealing that the PlayStation 4 edition has 3 times the monetization rate the game has on PC.

Furthermore, players enjoying the game on the PlayStation 3 also contribute double the rate of PC players.

Smedley attributes the game's success on PlayStation platforms to the fact that it is one of the first free-to-play titles to hit the PS3 and PS4, but he believes that there is an "astounding" market for such titles on consoles.

Console F2P games are very lucrative

Sony Online Entertainment is looking to launch the PlayStation 4 beta for PlanetSide 2, its massively multiplayer first-person shooter, on January 20. The game is also available on PC, and SOE believes that it has a bright future on the console.

Smedley compares the present free-to-play console boom to the early days of social games, with the significant difference that most of those early games were not even games at all but rather monetization vehicles that held little value, in stark opposition to the high-quality free-to-play offers of today.

Among the company's plans for the future is the launch of the zombie survival MMO H1Z1 on Steam Early Access, and from there to a full PC release followed by the action-adventure game coming to consoles.

Smedley also talked about the great opportunities the Steam Early Access offers to gamers and developers alike, and he expressed his hope to create something similar for the PlayStation 4, further down the line.

Other notable PlayStation 4 free-to-play games are Warframe, Digital Extremes' cooperative science fiction third-person shooter that many consider to be even better than Destiny, and Loadout, Edge of Reality's third-person shooter revolving around weapon crafting and over-the-top action.

DC Universe Online screenshots (8 Images)

DC Universe Online logo
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