It was 2009 when Dungeons and Dragons Online transitioned to a free-to-play model, and everything changed. That was our “Fire Nation attacked” moment. I’m serious. If you don’t realize how big a change that was, it’s noteworthy because we went from a world in which a lot of respectable MMORPGs had subscriptions and smaller fly-by-night games that were free-to-play and really made you feel like “you get what you pay for.”
Of course, this has also come with some bad-faith arguments that free-to-play is just the last refuge of failing games to eke out some money. This is not true. And so I decided to make a list of 10 MMORPGs that transitioned from a subscription model to another business model and have not only survived but thrived post-change.
Something I want to make clear here is that we are covering only MMOs that had a wholesale rearrangement of their business models. Guild Wars 2 is an excellent game that made its base game free-to-play a while back, but it was and remains a buy-to-play game; the real difference is what you must buy in order to play. Final Fantasy XIV has a free trial that includes the first two expansions, but it is still a subscription game. You get the idea. Even without those technicalities, it was actually stupid easy to get to 10.
1. Dungeons & Dragons Online
So I’m just going to make this an obvious thesis statement: If DDO were an unsuccessful game that just switched to a free model to drain some last bits of money out of people, then you would not expect me to be here 16 years later saying “yeah, that game is still running and doing fine.” But it is still running and doing fine. I can speculate on a lot of reasons why free-to-play helped this game directly, but it clearly did! In fact, not only are some of our commenters probably saying the game rules right now in their heads, some of our writers probably are, too! Everyone loves DDO, it seems.
2. City of Heroes
All right, this one I am being a little bit of a cheat with because the game did wind up shutting down… for reasons totally unrelated to whether or not its business model shift worked. That business model? Worked great. I remember even chatting with the staff about my reaction to some of the prices and how things were managed and having a really productive conversation. And now, thanks to the licensing of Homecoming, the game is really free and keeps running because the community pays for server hosting without a subscription fee. We are heroes. This is what we do.
3. The Elder Scrolls Online
When The Elder Scrolls Online launched, it was subscription-only. It was one of the last major MMORPGs to really launch with that from the start, but its swap to buy-to-play with an optional subscription really did help it stay vital and thriving. You could argue that it’s not a free-to-play transition because… y’know… it isn’t, but the game went from having a rocky launch to being a top title, and at this point it seems like the biggest existential threat to this game isn’t due to not having players or potential customers but being owned by people who are stripping the copper wiring out of the walls. But that’s not half a patch on the business model.
4. Star Trek Online
There was a long chunk of time there when this title seemed like the best and only chance to see the future of the series after the end of Voyager, and to this day it’s definitely the most developed example… and it also managed a good transition to a free-to-play model. Sure, I have taken it to task more than once for predatory monetization, but it’s a successful game. It works, and it’s still a good game underneath that, despite (again) being owned by people who seem like they’re just cracking the drywall and pulling out whatever wires might be available for resell. Jeez, how did this come up twice back-to-back?
5. Lord of the Rings Online
You want proof that Lord of the Rings Online is doing all right for itself? Sure. Do you remember when the story of the books end? That’s right, with the scouring of the Shire. But you were going to say with the defeat of Sauron or you were expecting me to say that because people always forget that there’s a whole tail end of the books after the One Ring got yote. Anyhow, that story wrapped up in 2017.
No, seriously. The game has been going for eight years following the end of the main story of the books just exploring the aftermath, and there is no reason to expect it’s anywhere near done yet. So, sure. This is doing peachy.
6. Star Wars: The Old Republic
I have a lot of mixed feelings about this title for a variety of reasons (one column I considered writing was just about the various ways it ruled, I have written a column about some bad choices it made at launch, it’s complicated), but it definitely wasn’t shocking that it launched with a subscription fee. What might be shocking is that it went free-to-play and then… kept going pretty solidly, adding new voiced expansions, new story, new things to explore, and so forth. This game has had a longevity I would not have expected when that free-to-play announcement happened!
7. DC Universe Online
There are a lot of games I talk shit about and it’s in an affectionate way. Like, I will rib most of the games on this list without any actual distaste for the games, and that’s wholly separate from loving games I will also critique seriously. This is not the case for DC Universe Online. I am absolutely a hater for this game on account of hating things that are bad and video games that aren’t fun to play. I am sipping the haterade. When DCUO fans say “haters gonna hate,” the haters they are referring to are me. It’s me. I am the haters, and I am going to hate, and I don’t feel bad about it because game bad.
But game also makes money, so I can’t pretend that its transition wasn’t successful. Even if I can be disappointed.
8. EVE Online
Bree said that I wasn’t allowed to just post a meme of “Somehow, EVE Online successfully transitioned to free-to-play. Bottom text.” You know the image. It’s especially weird when we actually have a Star Wars game on this list, but I wanted to use it here. So just imagine it and ignore any and all editor boxes here in which she states otherwise. Although I guess she could just edit that line out as well as this line. If she’s a coward. What were we talking about? Oh, right, EVE, I guess. [Editor’s note: Somehow, EVE Online went F2P in 2016, but everyone who’s anyone still has a sub. Subs. -Bree]
9. Albion Online
Is there anything this game has not surprisingly succeeded at? I keep feeling like this title can’t keep getting away with this but here it is, in its lane, moisturized and thriving. You made open PvP get over, sort of, after a fashion! You’re free-to-play! People like you! Hot diggity dog.
10. EverQuest II
It will never stop amusing the living hell out of me that EverQuest II went free-to-play well before the original game did, and I can maintain that amusement because it wasn’t the prelude to an unceremonious shutdown but just a business model change. Since then, the game has gone on to have approximately four thousand expansions. In other words, I feel that with these examples alone, it should be clear that business model transitions can absolutely work and be roaring successes.
Everyone likes a good list, and we are no different! Perfect Ten takes an MMO topic and divvies it up into 10 delicious, entertaining, and often informative segments for your snacking pleasure. Got a good idea for a list? Email us at justin@massivelyop.com or eliot@massivelyop.com with the subject line “Perfect Ten.”