Starter Editions: The Buy-To-Play FPS's Answer To Free-To-Play?

It feels like I hear the same question every time a new buy-to-play multiplayer-only FPS is released: “When is this going free-to-play?” So far, with the exception of Team Fortress 2, the answer to that question is always a resounding “never”—not that the fact is stopping people from asking when Overwatch is going free-to-play.

I’ve begun to wonder if there isn’t an alternative that FPS developers are beginning to consider: the Starter Edition. The Starter Edition, in both forms I’ve seen it in, is exactly what it sounds like. It is a significantly cheaper version of the game that either introduces elements that inconvenience the player or removes major features that the standard edition has. I didn’t put much stock in the idea that these would catch on when Call of Duty: Black Ops III was the only buy-to-play FPS offering a Starter Edition, but now that Rainbow Six Siege has its own Starter Edition I’m beginning to reconsider.

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The reason that a company might provide a Starter Edition is simple. It’s exactly the same reason that many titles go free-to-play. The developer and/or publisher wants to bring in more players. They want to convince more potential buyers that are on the fence to take the leap with a lower barrier to entry. The Starter Edition also gives companies an excuse to keep discounts on the core version lower in the need to maintain a reasonable price gap when they inevitably refrain from discounting the Starter Edition—as we’ve seen when Call of Duty: Black Ops III goes on sale.

The question is “do Starter Editions work?” If we look at the two existing examples, the answer is no. Despite a high for the month coinciding with the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops III’s Starter Pack the game has been on a steady decline. Rainbow Six Siege’s 24 hour peak following the release of its Starter Edition is a whole 4034 players—or approximately 28%—lower than the 30 day peak preceding its release. For comparison, Tree of Savior’s population quadrupled on its free-to-play launch date while Block N Load’s population rose by over 1700% over the course of the month leading up to its free-to-play launch.

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Is there a reason that these Starter Editions didn’t work out beyond the fact that they aren’t free? Perhaps. Players were fairly unenthusiastic about the increased grind in Rainbow Six Siege’s Starter Edition. What was anywhere from half an hour to two hours of grinding per new Operator in the standard edition was increased to around 15 hours per new Operator in the Starter Edition. The Call of Duty: Black Ops III Starter Pack, on the other hand, removed the ability to Prestige, play the game’s infamous zombie mode, or even play custom games in addition to the removal of the campaign. While it is a significantly cheaper option, players also get much less of the game with no option to earn back any of the missing features.

Another concern I’ve seen is that of hackers. By providing a cheaper option, the developer and/or publisher is providing hackers a cheaper way to get back into a game they’ve been banned from. Instead of spending between $50 and $60 on a game on a new Steam account, they instead have the option of paying a significantly reduced price—in both existing cases, it has been $15.

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Starter Editions are a fairly new concept. I have no doubt that a large part of the lack of success thus far lies in the implementation. Companies are undoubtedly still trying to find ways to make both versions feel as if they’re worth the money while simultaneously enticing more players to buy in. Do I think that the model will work for every FPS? No. For example, I don’t think that there is anything way that an Overwatch Starter Edition could exist without making one of the editions feel pointless. In a way, the $40 edition is Overwatch’s Starter Edition. I do, however, think that there is the potential for the model to make a difference for games that aren’t ready to go free-to-play—granted it is implemented well.