Subscriptions. An old, but still living payment model that has haunted millions of gamers. What makes a subscription the little flee that keeps draining our money but we do not want to get rid off?
Let's take things from the beggining. A monthly subscription means that month by month you keep depositing a steady amount of money in the Company's account that runs the game. That means that there will be a steady income for the Company, month by month, for as long as there will be gamers willing to play their product. Taking into account the sales profit and the monthly fees, the Company gets a great sum of money to invest in whatever way it sees fit. From a gamer's perspective, ''investment'' translates in more content for their favourite game, more features, better servers, greater customer support and many more. For the Company itself, however, investment has the same meaning like all other kinds of companies. R&D, new games under development, but also stuff like stockmarket etc,etc.
While this payment method has been quite prosperous during the last years, things have changed dramatically. The economical crisis, which is a worldwide phenomenon, has brought new standards in the gaming habits of gamers. Do not forget that for most of us, gaming is just a hoby. And the first thing someone has to cut-off in order to save some cash, is his expensive hobbies. Let's face it, gaming has always been an expensive hobby. While buying a game might not be that expensive itself, getting the console or building a PC capable of gaming, needs some paper. And while we will still do whatever we can to get our hands in a system that will allow us to excercise our favourite hobby, we still think twice and thrice as much before getting a new game.
