BioWare's Zeschuk Defends Subscription Model Viability and Flexibility

Some people see the MMORPG industry trending towards free-to-play and with all the titles to adopt a hybrid freemium model this year it’s easy to see why. But BioWare isn’t sold on the subscription model being dead quite yet. In an interview with Joystiq, BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk defended the decision to go with a subscription, and while not bashing the free-to-play mode, Zeschuk did indicate that a subscription game budget allows for a lot more flexibility when it comes to the size and scale of a development project such as Star Wars: The Old Republic.

The free-to-play people can't invest to the level we can invest, and can't create something of the size and scale of something we can create," he said. The idea that free-to-play will take over all other MMO business models, he said is, "from a business perspective, ridiculous.

BioWare also has its hand in the free-to-play cookie jar with games such as Mythic’s Warhammer Online: Wrath of Heroes and their social Facebook game Dragon Age Legends, so BioWare can attest to the various forms of business models. But for now, it’s clear that they aren’t willing to give up on subscriptions just yet.

Source: Joystiq