It seems that the free service earns higher profits than the paid service sometimes, as PUBG has proven this theory by providing it for free, making more profits than it was previously earning when it was for a fee.
And The Verge said in a report that the version of the game that carries PUBG: Battlegrounds and is played on computers and game platforms such as PlayStation and Xbox, achieves much more than it was previously achieving after turning into a free game as of last January, according to what was revealed by the game developer Krafton. In its most recent earnings report.
According to the report, the value of sales related to the game on computers amounted to 82.3 million dollars, an increase of 61%. On the gaming platforms, sales achieved a higher jump than those achieved on the computer, with an increase of 124% from the previous quarter, The ratio was 274% in terms of annual accounts, but Crafton did not explain the earnings related to those dollar increases.. The game also saw an average threefold increase in monthly active users compared to the fourth quarter of last year 2021.
It is no secret that PUBG: Battlegrounds was not previously free, as it was originally paid when it was launched in 2017, but the financial success that exceeded expectations when turning it into a free game proved that providing games for free can bring higher profits.
To illustrate how profitable this free model can be, the source said in his report that EA said that Apex Legends, published about three years ago, has exceeded $2 billion in total net bookings.. Epic raised $144 million for Ukraine relief during Only two weeks of Fortnite revenue.
For Crafton, turning PUBG into a free game was clearly a right and easy decision at the same time, perhaps helped by the popularity of the free game PUBG Mobile as well, and Crafton said that the game has been downloaded more than a billion times since March 2017 with revenue of 307.1 $1 million in the first quarter of 2022, which is 5% higher than in the same period the previous year.
It’s possible that Crafton’s move to convert its game into a free game will make more companies think about this, and some companies may change their plans if they intend to release paid games, modify it and adopt a strategy of providing it for free for higher profits.
Perhaps we have to wait a bit until the company announces the profits for the second quarter of the year, as profits may decline to reveal that the large increase that was achieved during the first quarter came as a result of the desire of many to try the game after it became free at last, which means that the momentum may not remain as strong as it was in the beginning.