Ever Wonder How Free Games Make Money?

Then Meet These Guys...

Anyone who plays free-to-play games on a regular basis will wonder, on occasion, how companies that charge nothing stay in business. Well, wonder no more. Wired has a great article on the sugar daddies who will spend hundreds and thousands of cold, hard, real money to be the best in their game(s) of choice. Some of them even justify it by saying they are actually saving money. Regardless of the motivation or rationale, it's a fascinating peek into the economies of F2P gaming, and why games like them keep getting made.

Update

Interesting counter-point article over on The Verge about PunchQuest, a game that has received critical acclaim, but apparently isn't making much money at all.

Truth in Advertising: Punch Quest

Lest there be any doubt as to the main gameplay focus of Punch Quest, it's a game about punching. Lots and lots of punching. What Temple Run is to, uh, running (in temples, no less), Punch Quest is to knocking out whatever gets in your way. On occasion, you get to punch AND ride dinosaurs at.the.same.time. How can you go wrong with such a concept? Answer: you can't. So grab a copy for the amazingly low-low price of nothing.