Games console industry tries to adapt to rise of free-to-play titles

Virtual goods such as Fortnite weapons and subscription services such as Microsoft’s Game Pass have become as important to the console industry as its traditional money spinner of high-priced standalone games, marking a turning point for the $60bn business.

Console players are set to splash out $21bn on in-game items and subscription services this year — about the same as they will spend on game downloads and discs, according to research group Ampere Analysis.

Such expenditure has risen sharply since the popular free title Fortnite debuted in 2017. Gamers that year spent three times more on console software than on subscriptions and virtual items.

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"If players continue to gravitate to free games, such as Fortnite, that do not require the latest hardware, Sony will find it more difficult to sell its PS5 to all but the most dedicated of players, some analysts have argued."

Archived version of the article: https://archive.vn/032BW#selection-2369.103-2373.159