Gamers’ new options: stream or subscribe

By MAE ANDERSON

AP Technology Writer

NEW YORK

The video game industry is entering new frontiers.

In the past, you plunked down $60 at GameStop for a copy of Grand Theft Auto or Madden NFL and played it out – after which you could trade it in or let it gather dust.

Now, you’ll increasingly have the choice of subscribing to games, playing for free or possibly just streaming them over the internet to your phone or TV.

Of course, people will still buy and use traditional video games and consoles for years to come.

Responding to changing consumer behavior, video game makers and new entrants like Google are offering new ways to play.

Game streaming: Big players are entering the arena: Google announced Stadia , a console-free game streaming service due out this year. The platform will store a game-playing session in the cloud and let players jump across phones, laptops and browsers with Google’s software.

Google didn’t say how much its new service will cost, whether it will offer subscriptions or other options, or what games will be available at launch – all key elements to the success of a new video-game platform.

Subscriptions: Apple announced a subscription service that some are calling the “Netflix of Games .”

Apple Arcade subscribers will get to play more than 100 games, curated by Apple and exclusive to the service. Games can be downloaded and played offline – on the Apple-made iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. Notably, Apple says players won’t have to pay for virtual weapons and other extras – something free mobile games typically charge for. The company didn’t say how much Arcade will cost when it launches this fall.

Free-to-play games: And then there is Fortnite, a free-to-play game that has become a massive hit with its “battle royal” mode winning over millions of fans. In this mode, 100 players battle one another for weapons and armor until only one player is left. Created by Epic Games, which is backed by Chinese mobile behemoth Tencent, a key aspect of the game is being able to play it on anything from your phone to a decked-out gaming PC.

Free-to-play games such as Fortnite make money from in-app purchases.

The trend started a few years ago with Candy Crush and other mobile games that appealed to casual gamers looking to pass the time on a subway or doctor’s waiting room. The success of Fortnite shows that this model works with more sophisticated styles of games, too. Despite being free to play, it raked in an estimated $2.4 billion in 2018, according to SuperData.

And there are many signs Fortnite isn’t a one-hit wonder. Electronic Arts’ Apex Legends got 50 million players worldwide in its first four weeks. While it doesn’t have a mobile component – yet – its style of game play and revenue model are similar to Fortnite. Meanwhile, Activision Blizzard is working with Tencent on a mobile version of its popular Call of Duty first-person shooter franchise.