How does GGG plan to make money?

I find it funny that there's been 10 pages of financial theory as to how GGG is going to survive economically, and yet there's not been a single reply from a dev team member. Irony, I know.

Facetious observations asides, GGG is probably going to make money the same way tf2 does it; through cosmetic changes to equipment/abilities maybe. Hey, people are willing to pay good money FOR GRAPHICS. I've also heard that they plan to implement a system that allows you to buy your way back into hc if you ever die.

Buying your way back in is lame in my book. I mean... assuming you'd only be able to buy your way in the moment you died. If not... I'd start out Hardcore… die and get all my crap out of the way. Then I’d go back into hardcore?

Anyhow I'd gladly pay the normal $10-$15 for this game. I didn't even know it was going to be Free To Play until reading this tread.

If they start getting tight for cash and want to keep the player base happy, I think $1-$5 a month for this game would do. TBH... I'd most likely have a lot of active accounts if the monthly fee was lower. “Man I’m board of this game... o well its only $5 a month”

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Calabeth wrote:

Anyhow I'd gladly pay the normal $10-$15 for this game. I didn't even know it was going to be Free To Play until reading this tread.

If they start getting tight for cash and want to keep the player base happy, I think $1-$5 a month for this game would do. TBH... I'd most likely have a lot of active accounts if the monthly fee was lower. “Man I’m bored of this game... o well its only $5 a month”

Pay per month system worked well a decade ago because gamers where mostly self-sustained grown ups (18+) who had the will and the possibility to pay a monthly amount to be part of a online gaming community.Nowadays ftp has conquered the market as the target group is much younger (12-17+) and it has no will to pay as long as there's a free gaming option a few clicks away from PoE.
So having that option cleared out of the way GGG has itself announced that they'll be making money through micro-transactions which by no way harm the game or unbalance it.
Another way they could be making money is through the e-sports factor.

I would definitely pay for this game, even up to $60.00, but I would not pay a monthly charge for this (or any) game. I would also support this game monetarily by purchasing ingame skins, added gore, added spell gfx, added critical effects (such as beheading on a critical, etc.), access to special areas (instances) that other people don't have, but which aren't game breaking to go to either. I would pay for all of those. I would not pay for items in the game, but I might consider paying for what is considered currency.

Regarding Leagues, so long as the leagues are FULLY customizable so as to offer some real variety (not the league of left-handed hitters, the league of mostly goblin enemies, etc...), then I will definitely be helping to support some of them! I'd be excited to see some mods come out of these leagues, perhaps an MXL type feel to them?!?

I'm guessing like most F2P games, there is going to be a Shop with Useful items sold. Such as Double-EXP, Special Quests, Bigger Potions, Highner Quality Gem's, Cosmetics, and... Donations. This is what i think atm.

TL;DR: Some F2P games are selling "Super Awesome Sword of Insta Kills" in their cash-shop, hopefully this wont happen with PoE.

The same way League of Legends makes money: Micro-transactions and loads of donations.

this isn't LoL tho, my dear borther..... but it would be funny if they did

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To fund the development and maintenance costs of the project, we plan to let players purchase aesthetic perks for their characters such as:

• Additional character animations (for example, taunts or PvP victory animations)
• Dyes and item skins
• Alternate spell effects
• Social pets

We will also offer some optional paid services such as:

• Inter-realm/inter-account character transfers
• Character renaming

You’ll notice nothing in the list above confers an actual gameplay advantage.

Nothing that gives power or an advantage will be sold. This includes gear, xp/loot boosts, pets that buff/attack, res scrolls, etc.

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WhiteBoy88 wrote:

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To fund the development and maintenance costs of the project, we plan to let players purchase aesthetic perks for their characters such as:

• Additional character animations (for example, taunts or PvP victory animations)
• Dyes and item skins
• Alternate spell effects
• Social pets

We will also offer some optional paid services such as:

• Inter-realm/inter-account character transfers
• Character renaming

You’ll notice nothing in the list above confers an actual gameplay advantage.

Nothing that gives power or an advantage will be sold. This includes gear, xp/loot boosts, pets that buff/attack, res scrolls, etc.

That's actually a good news! No gear to push your character's limits and yet, some fun stuff, me like...