Sony is preparing to release the PlayStation 4 on Nov. 15, and while several blockbuster games will be coming to the game at launch and soon afterwards, the company wants to increase the presence of free to play games available on their consoles after the console is launched. Andrew House was interviewed by The Wall Street Journal about free to play games, and revealed that Sony will be expanding the free to play roster when the PlayStation 4 is launched:
"We may well see free-to-play games on console be a much bigger factor...It will be a big part of the console landscape in this generation, but it may ramp up first in Japan because there is more experience of developing those free-to-play gaming experiences."
The company is backing up its claims to bring more free to play games to the living room by having some free to play options available at launch for the PlayStation 4 such as DC Universe Online. While it may seem strange to have free to play games on the powerful PlayStation 4, the shift could help the console gain ground with casual gamers who care less about specs and envelope pushing games but rather enjoys free mobile style games on the console. Sony and Microsoft both have tried out free to play games on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, but none have matched the success of similar mobile games such as Candy Crush or The Simpsons: Tapped Out.
Though the divide between gamers who prefer big budget cinematic games and those who enjoy free games remains, this move may help close that gap. However, the basic development philosophies between the two type's games may close due to the move to free to play console games. Senior producer at DeNA Co, Yasuhito Baba, explains the current differences between mobile and console developers:
"When you develop games for the console, you want to achieve perfection on, say, all 10 things that you think the game needs...A mobile game means nothing if you come out late. You may as well not have made it. So you're happy getting 8 out of those 10 things right."
With free to play developers getting a chance to develop console games, the teams may adapt to the console philosophy and create some truly fantastic games that deliver on all levels while still remaining free to play.