THQ, creator of the famous Saints Row and Red Faction franchises, has succumbed adapted to Facebook games like FarmVille. Escapist Magazine reports that THQ CEO Brian Farrell said that THQ is offering the racing game MX vs. ATV Alive for $40, and then supporting it with an aggressive DLC schedule. Why break the mold of $60 video games? Just look at the insane dough companies like Zynga are raking in with games that are free to play, but offer premium content for bits of cash. Inspired by this, Farrell is conducting an experiment with the newest MX vs. ATV game, according to Escapist.
"With MX vs. ATV Alive, we are experimenting with delivering a customizable experience for the player in a brand new pricing model," Farrell said to Forbes. "It's an innovative concept based on what we've seen in the free-to-play markets. We're delivering a premium game experience at an SRP of $39.99 in order to drive the installed base of users, and then digitally delivering over 100 pieces of downloadable content and an in-game store for micro-transactions, allowing the gamer to customize their experience and pay for the modes that they want to play."
Farrell's hope appears to be to change the way console games are priced to better compete with the microtransaction models of social games, MMOs and even PC-based first-person shooters. Players won't even have to buy content through the PlayStation Network or Xbox Live Marketplace. Though, we're certain that as soon as this trend catches fire, that policy will change faster than you can say, "30 percent cut."
[Image Credit: VZ Buzz]
Do you more developers will eventually conform to this model as social gaming gets more popular/profitable? Would you find yourself buying more console games if this were the case more often?
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