Sony, Warner Bros. Drop Subscription Fees and Move into Selling Virtual Goods

Today, the Wall Street Journal published an article titled, First, Give Away the Game which focused on the growing adoption of the free-to-play business model in the Western market with major companies like Sony and Warner Bros. The model not only removes barriers to entry for gamers, but also provides them with the ability to self-select into an optimal price point resulting in a compelling high-margin business for game publishers and developers.

Sony plans to release a F2P version of “Everquest II” and Warner plans to release “Lord of the Rings Online” by the fall abandoning a $15 dollar a month subscription fee. Players will now buy virtual goods and items upgrades incrementally through micro-transactions.

Although the price point on many virtual items often seem small—$1 or $2 for many items— publishers are discovering they can really add up. Across the 145+ titles we power e-commerce for we see an average of 10% of players purchasing virtual goods spending at an average of $28 a month. “There’s no cap on what the user will spend on micro-transactions, unlike a traditional subscription model,” says Andrew Schneider, Live Gamer’s president and co-founder.

This published story follows last week announcements of new partnerships with EA, THQ, and Real Networks’ Gamehouse only solidifying that major Western publishers and IP holders are rapidly adopting this model. Total virtual goods sales this year are expected to reach $1.7 billion in the U.S., up from $278 million in 2008, according to ThinkEquity LLC.

Contact us to learn how Live Gamer can help accelerate your micro-transaction strategy.

To read the Wall Street Journal article in full click here

Live Gamer’s CEO and Co-founder, Mitch Davis will join ThinkTomorrow ~ Today: A Private Company & Venture Capital Summit (TTT) hosted by Think Equity. Mitch will participate on the “Monetizing Generation Y” panel, which will take place on May 11th at 3:15 PM moderated by Atul Bagga.

About Think Tomorrow ~ Today

ThinkTomorrow ~ Today brings together the leaders of the growth economy and offers an opportunity to meet face-to-face with visionary company executives, interact with leading growth strategists and technologists, and witness firsthand the state-of-the-art products and services that will shape the future. In this one-of-a-kind forum, our presenting companies will outline their latest developments while key influencers and industry luminaries debate the future of the growth economy.

To learn more about monetizing the next generation of consumers, please contact us

Live Gamer’s Senior Director of Business Development and video game icon, Stevie Case hosts a brand new radio show, Stevie FTW (For The Win). The new show focuses on the high tech lifestyle, exploring the latest in online gaming, web culture, digital media, and the gadgets that transform them

This past week Stevie and Dan are talkin’ iPads, Blizzard woes, and competitive gaming around the world. eSport Media, Inc.’s CEO Jeff Hunter also sat down to talk about the future of eSports Media. The show has already featured Doug Dyer from AFK Interactive, Dave Rohrl from Playdom, Jonathan Carroll from Alamofire, and Cliff Bleszinski from Epic Games.

Stevie FTW is co-hosted and edited by Dan Taylor and produced by Angel Munoz.

The show airs every Wednesday and you can tune in by visiting www.stevieftw.com

Today, Sony Online Entertainment launched the Agency: Covert Ops on Facebook utilizing Live Gamer Elements platform.

The Agency: Covert Ops is a secret agent spy game with a rich stylized look and deep storyline that takes Facebook games to another level with customizable clothing, skill-based combat, and involved missions. Through our platform players can accumulate in-game cash and Sony Station members can opt to spend real money on in-game items via Station Points.

Check out the agency on Facebook

Contact Us to learn how to use micro-transactions for you business

Live Gamer’s president and co-founder, Andrew Schneider will be joining a social gaming panel at the upcoming Digital Hollywood Conference.  They will discuss the latest trends of social gaming design, distribution, and monetization across online and mobile platforms.

Monday, May 3rd

2:30 PM – 3:30 PM

Track I – DMny-1, HGmz-2, NuVIS-2

Social Gaming: Online and Mobile – Design, Distribution, Virality, Cross-Promotion & Monetization

Michael Pole, Founder, President, Trilogy Studios

Andrew Schneider, Co-founder & President, LiverGamer

Mike Goslin, Vice President Product Development, Hangout, former VP Disney Online

Mikael Gummerus, CEO and founder, Frosmo

Kyle Laughlin, Head of Yahoo! Sports and Yahoo! Games

DreamWorks Animation, tba

Steve Poehlein, Director, Media & Entertainment Solutions, Hewlett-Packard, Moderator

To schedule a meeting with Live Gamer, contact us