Free to play; it’s a fairly simple concept. Take your phone, PC, or console, load up its respective game/app store, download, and play! Hundreds of millions of people play free games, as no direct payment is required to play (other than the expensive device, of course).
But what about pay to play games?
The number of people playing these kinds of games are lower since a direct payment is required (on top of that expensive device…yikes!) Many people can’t afford or aren’t willing to shell out that extra cash for a game, which could amount to $70-$80, leaving Ashley Hemenway’s “casual gamer” behind.
Clearly, there are two distinct communities that make up most of the free/pay to play games. The dedicated gamers might be found in both communities, but not vice versa. This split creates two different ways games are marketed and consumed, which should mean that these communities won’t interact with each other.
At this thought I came to multiple questions that have even more answers: What happens when a pay to play game goes free to play? How is the community affected? How is monetization affected? WHAT HAPPENS?!?!?
Surprise! I can tell you, as I have been a part of this community and monetary shift… twice now. Combined, I have over 1300 hours spent on these games, and I still play both to this day. Destiny 2 and Rocket League are two of my favorite video games, period. The former is a lore-filled, immersive experience and the latter is a thrilling twist on the classic sport of soccer (or football, however you say it.)
Before I dive into the effects of going free to play on these games, I want to give a clearer definition of free to play and pay to play. All free to play games are either games that have advertisements littered throughout or are “freemium” games: a free download, but progress can be made by paying for in-game currency. Some games are truly free to play, but they offer premium cosmetics, i.e. Fortnite. Pay to play games have an asking price, but many also offer premium cosmetics as well.
Alright, let’s start with Destiny 2.
Destiny 2 released at $60, a standard price for a AAA title, and was developed by Bungie and Activision. In-game currency could be purchased to buy cosmetic items, and expansion packs were released at premium prices for fresh and novel in-game content. Riding the wave of popularity that its predecessor had, Destiny 2 sales were off the charts. Bungie and Activision never gave specific numbers, but more units of Destiny 2 were sold in its first year compared to its predecessor (sold from 2014-2017). In 2018, a third-party site, DestinyTracker, logged roughly 8 million users on Destiny 2, and roughly 600K played daily. In short, it was one of the biggest games in the gaming industry, competing with the likes of Call of Duty.
On October 1st, 2019, Destiny 2 became free to play. What happened to the numbers? The culture? Were casual gamers introduced into the fiercer side of gaming?
On October 4th of this year, a little over 1 year after becoming free to play, DestinyTracker logged roughly over 20.6 million players with 1.4 million active players online. That’s around 2.4 New York Cities registered as a player, and 1/8 of New York City actively playing. Holy smokes. Unfortunately for Bungie, they made no money directly from adding millions of players, but they exposed the new players to the cosmetics and the expansion packs. In 2019, these same cosmetics and expansion packs earned Bungie a whopping $300 million, with only a ¼ of the year including the “free to play version” of Destiny 2. The numbers for 2020 haven’t been released yet, but with the release of 2 expansion packs and an overhaul of the microtransaction shop, we can expect to see that number go up.
There’s something else besides numbers that are extremely important: the community. The Destiny community has been around since 2014, and it’s even stronger now. Of course, adding players will directly increase the number of avid community members. We can even assume that some casual gamers were exposed to Destiny 2 and became a part of the Destiny and gaming community. Content creators became more popular, as twitch streamers and YouTubers alike saw their view and subscriber counts soar. Hackers in the PvP mode became more prevalent. Puzzles and mysteries in the game that rewarded rare items became a team effort of millions. Overall, going free to play created a buzz around the game that hadn’t been felt before, and the sheer exposure Destiny 2 garnered will ingrain itself in popular and gaming culture alike.
Now, to Rocket League.
This game is the most sports-like game I know. It’s a riveting 3-on-3 soccer match with cars, lasting 5 minutes with overtime (if necessary). Rocket League was released in July of 2015, sold for the small price of $20. Like Destiny 2, this game offered cosmetics for a premium price. Rocket League did incredibly well for its small developing team Psyonix; it made over $110 million from sales and microtransactions in its first year and accrued over 5 million active players. These numbers would steadily increase year after year, making Rocket League a smash hit in the gaming community.
The numbers certainly are impressive, but I believe what truly drives Rocket League (pun intended) is its involvement in e-sports. As of now, Rocket League is one of the most popular e-sports in the world, competing for viewership with League of Legends and CS:GO. In the Rocket League community, organizations like NRG, Renault Vitality, and G2 are household names, and superstars like Squishy, jstn, rizzo, turbopolsa, and fairy peak are the most known players around. They play for the world championship title in the Rocket League Championship Series (RLCS), which averages around 100K views each year. Each season includes its own storyline, clutch moment, and heartbreak.
Rocket League went free to play just short of two weeks ago on September 23rd, 2020. How will this affect its revenue and community?
I want to use Destiny 2 as a model here. Destiny 2 microtransaction sales are on the rise, and I believe Rocket League will experience the same effect, but on a lesser magnitude. However, Rocket League will certainly make up for it. There’s no doubt in my mind that most of the money will be coming from e-sports. Increased popularity will boost viewership, which will boost ticket sales for LAN events. Already, the average viewership on Twitch alone has gone up from around 30K to 60-80K. New organizations will flock to pick up the increased high-skill player base to compete in RLCS, leading to more sponsorship deals and funding. Prize pools for tournaments will become much larger. I believe that the already large e-sports scene of Rocket League will grow exponentially and surpass games like CS:GO and Rainbow Six Siege.
I haven’t even mentioned the player base. As an active player for a couple years, I normally see around 100K-200K online each day. I logged on come September 24th, a day after free to play launched, and nearly 1.1 million people were playing. That’s almost a million new players AT ONCE. Not only that, but that daily average competes with the likes of Destiny 2. Given time, a portion of that million could become the next jstn, the next squishy, the next turbopolsa. A casual gamer now could become RLCS world champion in a couple years. Where Destiny 2 won in microtransaction/DLC sales, Rocket League will win big in the e-sports scene.
Don’t get me wrong, the growth of Destiny 2 after it went free to play was fun to watch. The community came together like never before, and, most importantly to Bungie, they made a lot of money. The Destiny franchise will go down as one of the all-time greats, facilitated by the free to play move. However, I’m even more excited to watch the growth of Rocket League. This game has the potential to amass the same player base Destiny 2 has and to grow one of the most exciting e-sports to watch. Do I know exactly what will happen with Rocket League moving forward? No, I’m speculating based on the rise of Destiny 2. But I believe that Rocket League will become a cornerstone for all gamers, casual or avid, and it will become the poster child for the e-sports scene.
After all, “This is Rocket League!”
-Alex LeRoux
New Media: Storytelling in Literature, Films, and Games 
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