Why Trion Worlds’ Atlas Reactor is the latest online game to say no to free-to-play

When Trion Worlds set out to make its next game, the company thought it was building something for the free-to-play business model. But to the publisher’s surprise, it turns out it was actually making something quite different.

Atlas Reactor is getting a $30 price tag because, according to Trion chief executive Scott Hartsman, the development team realized recently it didn’t end up making a fun free-to-play game. Instead, Trion found that people had the most fun when they didn’t have to think about the business model and could instead focus on learning the nuances of the different characters in the competitive turn-based strategy game. Shifting away from free-to-play is something we’re seeing a bit more frequently on PC. The success of military shooter Counter-Strike: Global Offensive and the excitement for class-based shooter Overwatch, both of which have a premium price, shows that the consumers on the PC side of the $99.6 billion gaming industry — one where free-to-play does well in online games like League of Legends and Dota 2 — are still willing to pay upfront.