Free VS Free to play, difference? Gratuito VS Free to play?

[elendil093]

Hola amigos, esa es mi pregunta técnica... ¿cuál sería la real diferencia entre un juego catalogado como "Gratuito" de otro "Free to play"? En principio entiendo que un Free to play es un juego que es libre de ser jugado de manera gratuita y el Gratuito entendería que está gratis de manera temporal, pero si nos ponemos a mirar los títulos, esto no es así, ya que hay muchos juegos que figuran como Gratuitos y no es por ofertas, sino que son para jugar gratis al igual que un Free to play. Si alguien sabe se agradece la info!

Hi friends, that's my technical question, what's the real difference between a "Free" and a "Free to play" game? I understand that Free to play is a game free to be played freely and Free could be a temporal offer or promotion, but that's not always the case. If anyone knows, just for curious, any info would be appreciated!

[zenko]

normally free game are completly free and free to play, you can enjoy the game free but there is microtransaction in the game or dlc to give you more advantages or cosmetics. Pay to win, is generally free to play game where you can play but probably lose if you dont pay some microtransactions to have better weapons, skill, class, characters... ect

[crunchyfrog]

It depends and the best answer is to read up about the game from the terms AND user reviews.

Because these terms are essentially marketing words, they can be bent or abused.

But geenrally "free" means totally and completely free to download and play from start to end.

"Free to play" generally means free to download and start to play but you may find hurdles you can't get past unless you start paying money for things.

But as I said, it varies and you need to read up BEFORE hand.

[elendil093]

Thank you both for the answers! Yes, I guess you're right, even if it's not something totally accurate, but I started to think since there are a lot of titles with different denominations, and even Prologues, some are Free and others Free to play, that's why I was curious, but I think all you both said is right

[crunchyfrog]

Originally posted by elendil093:

Thank you both for the answers! Yes, I guess you're right, even if it's not something totally accurate, but I started to think since there are a lot of titles with different denominations, and even Prologues, some are Free and others Free to play, that's why I was curious, but I think all you both said is right :LIS_butterfly:

No problem.

You're right to ask as it can be deliberately confusing. That's what we're here for - us users help one another :)

[Kargor]

Let's just look at some simple behind-the-scenes examples, starting with a normal purchase in the Steam Store:

[***] command> show-license 207350
You have 1 licenses related to 207350 ("Ys Origin"):
   package 14898 ("Ys Origin") (BillOnceOnly) purchased 2019-... (PayPal)
      Game 207350 ("Ys Origin")

This one is tagged as "BillOnceOnly", likely meaning it's meant to be paid for, but not in a recurring fashion. I have used PayPal to buy it.

[***] command> show-license 373600
You have 1 licenses related to 373600 ("Weapon of Choice"):
   package 1125886 ("Weapon of Choice Limited Free Promotional Package - Aug 2024") (NoCost) purchased 2024-... (Complimentary)
      Game 373600 ("Weapon of Choice")

This is one of the "-100%" freebies that publishers occasionally do. It is "NoCost", because, well, it's free. The payment method is "Complimentary", which is Steams term for "we just gave it to you, you are welcome".

In the store, such games are generally displayed as a purchase with -100% discount, and they are time limited. In your license overview, you do not get a "remove" link.

Steam mostly treats it like a normal purchase, because of the time limit -- there's only a limited window where you can "buy" it for 0 of whatever monetary unit you use, and normally it's not free.

However, this is not what people generally call "F2P". F2P games look somewhat differently:

[***] command> show-license 236390
You have 1 licenses related to 236390 ("War Thunder"):
   package 21353 ("War Thunder") (FreeOnDemand) purchased 2024-... (Complimentary)
      Game 236390 ("War Thunder")

Again, the same "Complimentary" payment as before, but the license type is now "FreeOnDemand". This is generally what you get for the "F2P" games -- the Steam store gives you no price and an "add license" button (instead of a price and purchase button), and the license overview includes a "remove" link.

Steam also has "free weekends", which are games that can be played for free for a limited time only. I don't even know whether my software shows them correctly since I don't generally know when one is happening, or I have other things to do at that time.