Throne and Liberty developer NCSoft has already shown off amazing gameplay and graphics. But players are still worried that Throne and Liberty will be pay to win. NCSoft is aware that the success or failure of TL is depending on its “business model”. NCSoft is aware that monetization techniques that work for the eastern part of the world might not work for the western population.
To explain this a bit better, pay to win is often accepted in Korea/Japan/China while Europe/North America players detest it. Therefore it is likely that NCSoft plans to have different monetization models. NCSofts Guild Wars series which is also popular in the west has a business model that minimizes probability-type items. Western players do dislike RNG based systems, especially when they are very unfair and amount to a huge grind.
NCSoft is also still looking for a publisher in the western region. That means they do think that another publisher is better suited on how to set up the business model than NCSoft themselves. Of course, the first publisher that comes into mind is Amazon, which recently handled games like Lost Ark and New World.
It is likely that Throne and Liberty will launch with the following business model in the west:
- F2P with Cosmetics Shop and Pay to Convenience
- Paid Game with Subscription and Cosmetics Shop
This is all speculation. Hopefully, we will get an idea about the business model sooner or later. It is clear that NCSoft doesn’t want to butcher the launch of Throne and Liberty. If they manage to find a publisher for the western region it is likely that the game will adapt a business model not based on P2W.
