Female players to receive discounts in new MMO

Russian developer Nival is to offer female players discounts on in-game microtransactions for its new PC fantasy MMORPG title Prime World, it has revealed.

Speaking to Penny Arcade, the studio’s creative producer Larisa Nuretdinova said that as well as paying less, teams that blend both male and female players will also receive power bonuses in battle.

She said that developer had made the move to try and entice women who are not usually in the ‘hardcore player’ audience, and to create a more social experience for users.

“The idea is to introduce the multiplayer online battle arena genre not only to hardcore players who already love it, but to their friends who might be more casual, and of course to their sisters and girlfriends who may not be as hardcore,” said Nuretdinova.

“When boys gather around to play games just with each other, it’s not really social. When girls gather around just to chat, it’s not very social. The social starts when they hang out together and play games together.”

Confirmation of whether a player is in fact male or female will come through authentication of the user’s Facebook account.