Platform holders 'running scared of free-to-play'

The big three must adapt or will face huge challenges, says Ben Cousins

The free-to-play model is not being pursued by console manufacturers due to deep-rooted fears that it would empty traditional revenue streams, a director at Ngmoco has said.
Ben Cousins told Develop that consoles are “the only platform where freemium isn’t making a huge impact because the console holders, as I understand it, are scared of it”.

Cousins’s theory – that Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony suffer from anxieties over a freemium revolution – is outlined in a new interview with Develop, published one day before his keynote speech at the inaugural free-to-play conference in London.
“There will be a perception within these companies, because they are very inexperienced in this area, that if they allow a high-quality free-to-play experience on their console it will eat into sales of premium games,” he said.
“They will be thinking they make more money, from a licensing fees standpoint, from packaged goods than from virtual currency.

http://www.develop-online.net/news/4...f-free-to-play