The free-to-play model originated in the late 1990s and early 2000s, coming from a series of highly successful MMOs targeted towards children and casual gamers, including Furcadia, Neopets, RuneScape,[9][10] MapleStory, and text-based dungeons such as Achaea, Dreams of Divine Lands.[11] Known for producing innovative titles, small independent developers also continue to release free-to-play games. The Internet has been cited[weasel words] as a primary influence on the increased usage of the free-to-play model, particularly among larger video game companies, and critics point to the ever-increasing need for free content that is available wherever and whenever as causes.
Particularly early on, free-to-play games caught on fastest in South Korea and Russia, where they took over 90% of the gaming market.[citation needed] There are free-to-play, pay-to-connect games where there is no charge for playing, but often the free servers are congested.[citation needed] Access to uncongested servers is reserved for fee-paying members. Free-to-play games are particularly prevalent in countries such as South Korea and the People's Republic of China.[6][12] Microtransaction-based free-to-play mobile games and browser games such as Puzzle & Dragons, Kantai Collection and The Idolmaster: Cinderella Girls also have large player populations in Japan.[13] In particular, the Nikkei Shimbun reported that Cinderella Girls earns over 1 billion yen in revenue monthly from microtransactions.[14] Electronic Arts first adopted the free-to-play concept in one of its games when it released FIFA Online in Korea.[8]
In the late 2000s, many MMOs transitioned to the free-to-play model from subscriptions,[15] including subscription-based games such as The Lord of the Rings Online: Shadows of Angmar, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, Dungeons & Dragons Online,[16] Champions Online and Heroes of Newerth.[6] This move from a subscription based model to a free-to-play one has proven very beneficial in some cases. Turbine as of September 10, 2010 has given an F2P with Cash shop option to The Lord of the Rings Online which resulted in a tripling of profit.[17] Sony Online Entertainment's move to transition EverQuest from a subscription model into a hybrid F2P/subscription game was followed by a 125% spike in item sales, a 150% up-tick in unique log-ins, and over three times as many account registrations.[18]
The movement of free-to-play MMOs into the mainstream also coincided with experimentation with other genres as well. The model was picked up by larger developers and more diverse genres, with games such as Battlefield Heroes,[8] Free Realms, Quake Live and Team Fortress 2[7] appearing in the late 2000s. The experimentation was not successful in every genre, however. Traditional real time strategy franchises such as Age of Empires and Command & Conquer both attempted free-to-play titles. Age of Empires Online was shut down in the midst of a tiny player base and stagnant revenue,[19] and Command & Conquer: Generals 2 was shut down in alpha due to negative reactions from players.[20]
In 2011, revenue from free-to-play games overtook revenue from premium games in the top 100 games in Apple's App Store.[21] The number of people that spend money on in-game items in these games ranges from 0.5% to 6%, depending on a game's quality and mechanics. Even though this means that a large number of people will never spend money in a game, it also means that the people that do spend money could amount to a sizeable number due to the fact that the game was given away for free.[21]
As of 2012, free-to-play MOBAs, such as League of Legends, and Dota 2 have become among the most popular PC games.[22] The success in the genre has helped convince many video game publishers to copy the free-to-play MOBA model.[23][24]