Free-to-play titles take four years before they reach their peak revenue from players. That’s what Managing Director of Reloaded – the studio behind APB Reloaded – Michael Boniface told the audience during his presentation at Develop Conference 2012.

The session, From Triple A To Free-To-Play examined the failures of Realtime World’s APB and what Reloaded did to bring the urban combat MMO back as a free-to-play game.  Boniface emphasised that “the most important thing for free-to-play is to be fun,” revealing how the development team regularly consult the community about aspects of APB Reloaded, which launched in December 2011.

And while blockbuster console titles make most of their revenue through day one sales, free-to-play games don’t maximise their revenue until four years after launch, said Boniface, as he discussed future plans for the MMO.

Free-to-play has has arguably been a success for APB Reloaded, with a user base of 647,000 players, compared with the 140,000 players achieved by the original, boxed version of APB Reloaded in 2010.

The Reloaded Managing Director described the process of going from triple A to free-to-play as the “most exciting, stressful, heartbreaking, rewarding experience of my life.”

Keep reading The Train2Game Blog for the latest news from Develop Conference, while there’s more on free-to-play here.

What are your thoughts on the idea a free-to-play title takes four years to reach peak revenue?

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