DC Universe Online Free-to-Play Interview

The ink is still drying on the news that SOE plans to transition DC Universe Online to a free-to-play business model, but that hasn’t stopped Massively from already securing an interview with company president John Smedley and producer Lorin Jameson about the change.

Massively: Why didn’t F2P happen in the first place when the game launched? At what point did you see this business model as the way to go for DCUO?

John Smedley: From our perspective, the business model has evolved, particularly on the PlayStation 3. We got a lot of feedback from users who said they’d love to give this thing a try but for the monthly sub attached to it. PS3 users voiced that very loudly, and we listened to them, and we decided to give this model a try. We think, long-term especially, it will be much more advantageous to the players.

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Massively: In terms of advertising, you mentioned that console players were interested in the game, but the subscription held them back. Do you think this business model will open up the console MMO market a bit more?

John Smedley: Yes, and it’s interesting because we sold more PS3 units than we did PC. Our sub base right now is like three to one, PS3 to PC. We see this thing really opening up, and it’s precisely the reason we see the business model as really advantageous for all users, particularly console users. We will now have the only two F2P console MMOs there are, and I’m really excited about that. Free Realms is doing really well on the PS3, and a lot of the data that we’re seeing from that is what drove us to this decision.

Lorin Jameson: There’s no doubt that DCUO really resonated with PS3 players. The combat style, the art, the fidelity of the content — there’s no doubt that many players loved this game. This is an opportunity to give as many people as possible a chance to play and enjoy it.