The state of Free-to-Play games on PC - is there any hope?
Back in 2020, I wrote an article complaining about things such as:
- prices at around 50€ for cut-down "standard" editions and 100€ for "complete" editions of newly released games.
- FIFA demo versions have fewer and fewer teams to choose from.
- "free to play" games like "The Elder Scrolls: Blades" requiring real money to progress further.
The time has moved on and now here we are:
- prices for cut-down "standard" editions are now 70€, and 150€ "complete" editions still don't include everything (for example Assassin's Creed Valhalla Gold Edition promised to include every DLC released in the future, but Dawn of Ragnarök DLC turned out not to be included)
- every single FIFA demo was pulled down from EA Store (even if you had them installed they won't launch)
- paid games that cost 70€ on release now come with unskippable ads and require real money to progress further (for example the official NBA 2K22 has unskippable ads and uses pay-to-win mechanics even in single-player mode)
So what about Free-to-Play games on PC that can be enjoyed without spending a single cent? Are they still a thing?
Absolutely. Even though the old list has gotten a little outdated (if you tried to play Forza Motorsport 6, Overwatch 1, or The Sims FreePlay for Windows - you would be out of luck).
Many good games were taken away from us. Forza Motorsport 6 was hands down the best free-to-play racing game - and it's gone.
Amazon's Crucible was possibly the only hero shooter with a story - and it's gone.
Destiny 2 was the best was arguably the best free-to-play Action Role Playing Game. But had most of its content moved behind a paywall.
It's no longer possible to play any demo of any FIFA.
The Crew: Wild Run was taken down from the Ubisoft Store (but at least you can still play it if you added it earlier, and the paid editions are also available)
And if the situation wasn't bad enough for free to play racing games - Nitronic Rush went offline. And then was re-released as a paid game The Distance.
Fortunately, despite many changes for the worse, there have been some changes for the better.
The Sims 4 is now free to play. And is vastly superior to the old Sims FreePlay that was taken down from the stores.
Empires Apart may have become effectively a mobile game - ad-filled nonsensical cash grab that happens to be played with a mouse on computers. But Age of Empires Online is back on Steam, reincarnated as Project Celeste. And although it is not quite as good as the "standard" versions of Age of Empires, is still miles ahead of Empires Apart even during its good old days.
And in the world of MMORPGs Final Fantasy XIV is now a viable free-to-play option, with a level cap raised to 60 and no limits on playtime in the free version.
So if you are interested in the most up-to-date version of the list of the best Free-to-Play games from every genre - check out the article here:
https://steemit.com/hardware/@hwtrendsetter/best-free-to-play-games-from-every-genre-finally-organized-in-one-place-updated-for-mid-2023