Free Online Chilton

Nevertheless, EA seems to think that a profitable future lies in free-to-play games. According to a story over on Games Industry.biz, EA’s Frank Gibeau has stated that the publisher will continue to “aggressively invest” in free-to-play titles, citing its 17 million users as a sign of its success.

EA’s hope – which is much the same as any other developer or publisher’s – is that a game will reach a broad enough audience to generate the same amount of money from millions of tiny payments as it would through fewer subscription fees of, say, £14.99 per month.

But while EA and Valve have embraced free-to-play games, many companies, such as Microsoft and Nintendo, are largely against the idea. It’s a resistance that could prove to be their undoing in the long term, argues Rick Gibson of the consultancy Games Investors.

"Xbox Live Arcade has a network that typically converts ten times as many players to payers," Gibson told Games Industry.biz. "And when they start to spend, they spend heavily. For some reason it's not actually being exploited on consoles."

Gibson points out that Sony is one of the few console manufacturers to have dipped its toe into the micro-transaction waters, with its Home service offering virtual items for sale in its online shop.