5 Games That Should Be Free-To-Play In 2022
Who doesn’t want free games? While we do want free games, it’s not always feasible for developers to make their games free-to-play upon launch. With that in mind, while many of us wait for a particular game to go free-to-play, today we’ll take a look at the games that we’d like to go free for all in 2022.
For the record, there are games that might benefit, given they ever decide to go free-to-play. While not many console games go free to play on launch or even within some time of their arrival, on the other hand, games like Fall Guys and Destiny 2 were not launched as free-to-play. However, both these games arrived in the market as pay-to-play.
Having taken the example of both these games, the two have garnered considerable attention and player base ever since they decided to go free-to-play. While Fall Guys is a comparatively new game in comparison to Destiny 2, much of Fall Guys’ success is owed to its unique approach to the battle royale format.
Why should games go free-to-play?
While we’re talking about certain games that should go free-to-play, a question surely arises in mind. If a publisher makes a game free-to-play, how do they expect to make money off it?
Well, there are a number of important factors for a publisher to make money from free-to-play games. First off, DLCs, just as Destiny 2’s DLCs are not free, if a player wishes to explore the free-to-play game or continue the campaign further by playing DLCs released at a later time from the game’s original release date, they will have to buy them.
Secondly, in-game purchases; the best example of this mechanism is the free-to-play battle royales, where players have the option to buy monthly passes to unlock more customizable content. And no, these additions do not give you an edge in battles; these are mere cosmetic additions.
As for the question of why certain games should go free to play. Firstly, if a game is not garnering the player base it needs to survive, publishers should make the game free-to-play so as to gather a diverse and larger player base. Secondly, the developers can always add microtransactions to games and even display advertisements to make money off the game, a win-win situation for both parties. Meanwhile, make sure to check out our list of free games you can play on PlayStation, Xbox, and PC.
5 games that we think should go free-to-play!
1. Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy
While the hype was real when Rockstar announced that it would be remastering the three classic Grand Theft Auto games; GTA: III from 2001, GTA: San Andreas from 2004, and GTA: Vice City from 2002. The remastered versions of the game are surely an improvement over their respective versions; however, the games are plagued by bugs. In addition to the buggy gameplay, fans criticized Rockstar Games since the GTA Trilogy failed to give the players what they expected from the remastered versions. So much so that the Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy has a Metacritic score of a mere 49.
Well, surely the game can do better when the bugs are fixed; Rockstar Games can surely boost the trilogy’s overall success by making it free-to-play for everyone. Even if the bugs are still there, having free-to-play games like San Andreas, GTA III, and GTA: Vice City, players can reminisce about the good times of their childhood and enjoy the game.
2. FIFA’22
The notoriously infamous game from EA. It’s every year that we see a new FIFA game, although, from unpopular opinion, we really do not need a new FIFA from EA every year. More importantly, FIFA’22, although claimed to be an improvement over its predecessor, doesn’t really seem like an improvement when it comes to gameplay and new additions.
Well, how can EA fix the issue at hand and boost the sales of their precious FIFA titles? One answer can be to provide the game for free. Moreover, it’s not that EA has to put the game out for free at launch; upcoming FIFA titles can be free-to-play for a certain period of time. However, it would be good for the game’s overall popularity and health to be a free-to-play game and add better multiplayer support. In addition, in-game transactions would definitely help the company make money off the game to compensate for the free sales.
3. Biomutant
Another game that hyped many fans before it was even launched but failed to impress players after its arrival. Biomutant is an open-world post-apocalyptic game featuring a raccoon with Kung-fu abilities. While the game featured a unique martial art playstyle and moves and tried to implement it well in the gameplay, it dwindled in trying to make something out of it.
On the other hand, it’s not that Biomutant overall received a bad reception from players worldwide. Meanwhile, a common issue that most of the players had with the game is that there is zero to no dialogue in the game, just plain combat. However, whatever the issue people find with the game, we believe it’s time Biomutant went free-to-play to attract more players and boost its player base.
4. Marvel’s Avengers
Talking about any Avengers game, who wouldn’t love to play as their favorite Marvel superhero? Well, some of us did not; at least, we did not want to play them in Marvel’s Avengers. The game had every opportunity to play upon the intriguing storyline of Marvel Avengers, with some of the most interesting characters ever created. However, the game felt plain with just limited moves in combat to a weak overall progression and plain gameplay.
While you do play Iron Man, Thor, The Hulk, and more Marvel superheroes, this game lacks the overall feel of playing a superhero character. Games like Marvel’s Spider-Man, and Batman: Arkham Knight do a far more good job at conveying the emotions associated with the said superheroes. That being said, Marvel’s Avengers do incorporate online multiplayer where 4 players can join together to form a team, which makes the game a good casual play.
Meanwhile, we’d still say that Marvel’s Avengers might’ve done a lot better if the game was launched as free-to-play, even for a limited time. However, we believe that in 2022, Marvel’s Avengers should go free-to-play if the game wants to survive and not fade out with the coming year in front of games like Guardians of the Galaxy and Wolverine.
5. Dead by Daylight
A great game with a simple concept of hide and seek. Dead by Daylight is no doubt an already hit game; that incorporated the concept of hide and seek with a killer. The aim of the game is to escape the area where a killer is after you and 3 other players and help each other escape. On the other hand, one player plays as the killer whose aim is to find you and make you suffer on a hook where you’re ultimately killed.
As we said, the game is a popular one thanks to its simple and unique perspective on the gameplay. That being said, consider the possibility of Dead by Daylight going free and garnering the number of monthly players to the game, which will further make the queuing times less for an online multiplayer game. On the other hand, as far as the money is concerned, the developers already have a battle pass system in the game.
5 Games that should be free-to-play in 2022: Summing up
With that, we come to the end of this list. While there are many games out there that can do a lot better by going free-to-play. Having taken the example of games like Fall Guys and Destiny 2, publishers can indeed make money while also pulling many players towards their game. To be precise, multiplayer online games can have a huge impact on their player base upon deciding to go free-to-play.
As for the revenue, in-game currency utilizing systems like battle pass, skins, and other cosmetic features can get the publishers to make money. Lastly, we want you to comment down your opinion; apart from these games, which games do you think should go free-to-play, and why should they?
