Free games could make PlayStation No.1 again

Major developers believe Sony can be the No.1 platform holder once again, thanks to its ambitious move into the free-to-play market.

The firm has just released a free version of SingStar, with customers having to pay for the music. Meanwhile, developer CCP is creating a free PS3 FPS called Dust 514, which also adopts the microtransaction model.

Sony making that game is a great step forward, and they should be applauded,” said Cevat Yerli, the boss of Crysis developer Crytek, which is now building free games.

If Sony embraces free-to-play as a major way for PlayStation, that could be the key console.”

CCP marketing boss David Reid agrees: It’s natural that the console challenger is going to be more ambitious and take more risks than the leader.

Last generation I was at Xbox and we were having our arses handed to us. And Xbox was the one that was trying to do crazy things with Xbox Live and so on.

Five years later, things have changed and now Sony is being more aggressive. It is a cyclical business and it feels like we’re coming around to another big turn again.”

To find out more about the booming free-to-play sector, check out this week’s Free-to-Play Special Editionof MCV Magazine. In celebration, we’ve made it free to read online! Check it out here.