Information wants to be free and so do games

But where newspapers, music, and films are struggling to find a way to make money on the free content the games industry is just doing it.
Online games have gone up with 22 per cent over the last year and we are at a point where almost every other internet user plays games online (source: comScore, July 2009). At E3 this year an analyst forecasted that the 2009 revenue of online games will hit $11 billion out of the total games revenue of $44 billion.

One of the business models for online games is to offer the games for free and give the players the possibility to pay for extra elements providing them with extra powers or adding to their appearance. This is a way to provide free games and still profit. But how do you create a community around your game giving the users incentives to upgrade? And how do you do this without letting down your potential customers: the players that are playing for free?

Sulake has had lots of success with Habbo Hotel. © Sulake Corporation

One of the key elements of the free-to-play business model is how to create communities, how to create loyalty and how to make the users pay. It all started in Asia with millions of Yen and Won earned on online free to play games, and the phenomenon is now hitting the rest of the world. We will look into what is legal in Denmark and Europe, and whether it is at all possible for European developers to create sustainable businesses with this kind of games?

For this year's MEDIA Desk/DADIU seminar we have invited experts in the field of free-to-play from Canada, USA, Sweden, Germany and Denmark. We're proud to have gathered a compact and inspiring programme with high profile speakers at the Filmhouse on the 19th of November 2009.

Come and let them introduce you to the world of free-to-play games.

This is the 5th annual seminar hosted by MEDIA Desk Denmark and The National Academy of Digital, Interactive Entertainment (DADIU)

Ene Katrine Rasmussen and Kristine Ploug, September 2009