Jagex attempting to bring F2P to console

Jagex, the developer of the massively popular MMORPG “Runescape,” has entered negotiations to bring free-to-play model games to the downloadable services of all three major platforms. WiiWare, Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network would serve as the gate to these games, but Jagex warns that transferring such games to consoles might add a price-tag to it.

That isn’t to say that Jagex absolutely wants to add a price-tag, just that the services might require one. In an interview with Develop, Mark Gerhard, CEO of Jagex, was quoted as saying that each game might have a nominal fee attached.

He went on to say that his aim is that there will be a completely free game on all the consoles out there that can, in essence, preserve the current free-to-play model. It’s not just up to Mark, however, though he thinks this is where the industry should go. He doesn’t feel like that’s where the console makers want it to go, however, given that everything that goes on WiiWare, PSN and XBLA has a price tag on it in some form.

Look for our own three-part interview with Mark Gerhard here on MMOHub next week.