Theme Park coming to iOS as a freemium game
Theme park simulation was quite popular in the “old days”, and both Theme Park and Rollercoaster Tycoon are names that many remember from back then. The former is now coming to iOS, which is frankly about time as that kind of game is perfect for the platform. A lot of similar types of games exist, but they are copies made by freemium companies that offer the games themselves for free and then make tons of money off in-app purchases for various in-game goods. When I heard that Theme Park was coming I was therefor excited, thinking that there would finally be a game that I could pay for once.
WRONG. Turns out that EA has taken quite a few notes from the big freemium providers out there and figured that it would be a lot more profitable to use that payment model for Theme Park as well. That is rather sad news for everyone who were looking forward to reliving some childhood memories, although freemium games normally get updated more often (simply because they are more profitable, and continue to be so for longer than normal games).
The freemium model will follow the typical path of having players earn money in-game at a rather slow rate and then offering to sell them more money for real money. It’s a scary trend we’re seeing with these games and it’s no longer just a small number of games that use this model. It’s gotten to the point where it’s cheaper to play computer games that require a monthly subscription than to play mobile games, at least if you want to experience the full game. Theme Park is one of the first classics that have become completely unattractive to me due to this payment model, but I doubt very much it’s the last.
[Digital Spy via TouchArcade]
