Hey guys! I was recently going through some old apps on my phone and realized that most of the games I enjoyed years ago were paid once and had no ads at all. Now when I try to find something similar, everything is free but filled with microtransactions. I found this article: https://www.jedinews.com/misc/articles/why-pay-once-mobile-games-are-vanishing/, and it explains how the industry moved toward more profitable models. It made me think about how much the user experience has changed. Do you think players actually prefer this, or is it just something we got used to?
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I think it’s more about what works best financially for developers rather than what players truly prefer. Free-to-play lowers the entry barrier, so more people download the game, and then a percentage of users spend money over time. From a business point of view, it’s hard to compete with that using a one-time payment model. Personally, I still prefer premium games because they feel more complete, but I’ve kind of accepted that they’re not the main focus anymore.