What does ‘Free to Play’ really mean?

rolfedh:

Hi, I’m Rolfe, guest blogger for Beyond the Void, the game.

Beyond the Void (BtV) is funded by in-game microtransactions. Like League of Legends, it uses a freemium model that does not give paying customers an advantage over non-paying customers.

Here’s the TLDR: In BtV, “free” means:

  • Free to play: As in, download, start playing, and keep playing, no payment.
  • Free to win: As in, BtV doesn’t sell items that give one opponent in a match an advantage over their opponent.
  • Free to sell: You can sell or trade any tradeable game asset inside or outside the game.

You say, “Hmm…sounds good. Tell me more.”

Free to play: Pretty straightforward. You can always play without paying. BtV will never charge to play.
Free to win: Okay, pay attention because this is a little more involved:  

  • Game Points: At the end of every match, you earn game points (GP) that you can use to buy items such as skills and motherships. If you win, you gain more GP. If you lose, you get fewer GP. You can use GP to purchase items that have a material effect on the gameplay.
  • Nexium: BtV has in-game tokens called Nexium, which are based on the Ethereum cryptocurrency. Players can buy Nexium using Ethers, which can be purchased using currency. You can use Nexium purchase items that change your character’s or mothership’s appearance, such as skins, avatars, holotags, titles, or Event cards that change the map properties. (See my blog post about Event Cards)

Free to sell: BtV is introducing the concept of “true ownership” to tradable game assets. That means that you can buy, sell, and trade these assets inside or outside the game. The Nexium will be available to trade on exchange platforms such as Open ledger. It means you have freedom of choice, which always a good thing.