The free-to-play MMO business model as it presently stands in North America and Europe is still strides behind what exists in Asia, but F2P is clearly making inroads in the West. What's less clear is how the free-to-play business model will evolve in the coming years. We've come across an interview with Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard conducted by Rob Crossley for Develop, which points to a few directions that free-to-play may take.
It's safe to say Gerhard knows a fair amount about the state of free-to-play games; RuneScape boasts millions of players and is a major success story with this business model. Gerhard specifically highlights his views on bringing free-to-play MMOs to consoles. Technological hurdles aside, Gerhard focuses on the business model applied to consoles and the industry's resistance to the concept of truly free-to-play titles appearing on Wii, Xbox 360 and PS3. You can read up about F2P meeting console MMOs in the Develop interview with Jagex's Mark Gerhard.
