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Study: Gamers Spending More On Free-To-Play MMOs
Games like SOE's DC Universe Online (shown) are going free to play, and according to a new report on MMOs, the free-to-play (F2P) model is expanding.
Video game market research firm Newzoo has filed its 2011 MMO Games Report, which says that gamers' spending on F2P MMOs is up 24 percent from 2010, and this sector of the genre is expected to rake in $1.2 billion this year.
On the whole, the report says F2P titles make up almost half (47 percent) of the MMO market. This is up from 39 percent the previous year.
The success of free-to-play MMO games certainly isn't isolated to the U.S.; Asia, Europe, and the rest of the world – including emerging markets such as Brazil and Mexico – are expanding the market.
Another factor in the sub-genre's growth is certainly the simple fact that more and more titles are switching over to the F2P model like DC Universe, City of Heroes, and Age of Conan.
[via Gamasutra]
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