Train2Game students will be aware of the increasingly popular free-to-play model of development, in which games are released for free then secure revenue through optional in-game purchases.

MMOs including Lord of the Rings Online, Dungeons and Dragons Online, Star Trek Online and, as reported by The Train2Game Blog, even Everquest have switched to a free-to-play model.

Brawl Busters, the recently released action combat title from Rock Hippo Productions, has adopted free-to-play from the outset, and in a soon to be published interview with The Train2Game Blog,  Marketing Manager Flavio Caracas says encourages many more people to try the game.

“As you know, the free-to-play market is having a big impact right now, and there’s a good reason for that. We’re able to reach a much larger audience for our games and the players can decide how much their experience is worth.” he told The Train2Game Blog.

Caracas added that free-to-play will only become more significant to game developers in future.

“It can seem counter intuitive, but the results speak for themselves. I think that F2P will become increasingly important in the industry, but there will always room for different models.” he said.

Yesterday, The Train2Game Blog reported that the Brawl Busters studio thought that QA and beta testing is crucial to the game development process. The full Train2Game Blog interview with Rock Hippo Productions will be published shortly.

There’s much more about free-to-play here on The Train2Game Blog.

What are your thoughts on Brawl Busters being free-to-play? Is the most important thing for a developer to make as many people play their game as possible?

Leave your comments here on The Train2Game Blog, or on the Train2Game forum.