SOE Sees Free-to-Play as the Future for MMOs

The president of one of the biggest MMO developers in the industry believes that the free-to-play model is the only one that can sustain the genre in the long run.

John Smedley, who is the president of Sony Online Entertainment, said, “It is the only way to go for new games. It was the right decision for SWTOR – which is a fantastic game.”

The executive announced that SOE is working on Planetside 2, which is now in the beta phase, and he also has plans to soon unveil information on another undisclosed intellectual property.

He added, “Wait until you see our next round of games after PS2.”

BioWare and Electronic Arts have announced that they are moving Star Wars: The Old Republic to the free-to-play model starting with a yet undisclosed date during the fall.

The only big MMO that still uses a subscription model is World of Warcraft, the genre leader from Blizzard, which recently announced a drop in players from 10.2 to 9.1 million.