Disruptive Paradigms that Deliver Gaming on a Budget

The games industry is big business, as demonstrated by the fact that Activision’s Call of Duty franchise tops the Marvel Cinematic Universe for revenue. What’s more, the esports boom of recent years has brought the sector to wider public attention and appeal than ever before. As top tier games grow larger, and take more development time and money, this increased cost gets translated to the consumer. Even when correcting for inflation, new console games are $15-20 more expensive than they were 20 years ago. In light of this, it’s harder to justify the upfront cost of all but the most critically lauded titles. Fortunately, though, there are new, disruptive formats emerging that are giving gamers the opportunity to get their gaming thrills at a fraction of the cost. Below, we’ll be taking a look at some of the best-kept secrets in the modern gaming industry – clever paradigms and surprisingly deals that ensure even the most ardent gamer won’t be running out of titles to enjoy any time soon.

Free-2-Play

Increasingly popular, Free-2-Play titles offer users access to a full game free of charge. This is because they rely on the sale of microtransactions to recoup their investment. As those that buy into these games become loyal fans, the likelihood of their patronage converting to microtransaction sales is particularly high. This is how Fortnite, a free title, has been able to make over $9 billion in just over 5 years. Even major developers are wading into this sector, offering customers access to console-quality experiences free of charge. Among the noteworthy modern F2P titles coming from major industry names, you will find Call of Duty: Warzone, Square Enix’s Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, and even Halo: Infinite’s multiplayer mode.

Promo Codes & Bonuses

As with any sector, developers and publishers working in the game industry recognize the value of letting people experience their products before committing to a full purchase. On one end of the spectrum, you have the classic freemium model, which is most closely associated with smartphone optimized games. While some of these are frustrating and deliver little real value to the consumer, those that strike the right balance give gamers the ability to try out the title first and consider whether they would like to unlock the full feature-set on offer. Elsewhere, online gaming platforms are accustomed to offering no-deposit offers to invite new and returning patrons, which can often be found collated by reputable providers such as OddsChecker, streamlining the process of seeking these out.

Even large scale productions often come with specific promotional offers and features, ranging from downloadable demos, to open betas. The latter is a format wherein developers give gamers the opportunity to play their titles in an unrestricted fashion for an allotted time period, typically ranging from between 4 and 12 weeks. This serves both the developer and gamer alike. Developers are able to gather vital data this way about how the game functions on a large scale, helping them iron out bugs and glitches ahead of the full release. It also serves as free promotional material, as many people are exposed to an early build of the game, making them likely to return on release if they enjoyed it.

Cloud Gaming

Cloud gaming offers, for a small subscription cost, the opportunity to play Triple ‘A’ games without having to invest in costly games consoles or custom PCs. This is because, instead, these services stream gameplay from their own servers, enabling their customers to play the likes of Cyberpunk 2077 right from their smartphone or web browser. While in many cases one must still purchase the games, the removal of the upfront cost of securing the necessary hardware is considerable. Furthermore, the flexibility offered by these services, of which Google Stadia and Xbox Cloud Gaming are the most popular, is unparalleled.