Valve Relied on Team Fortress 2 to Cover Absence of MMO

The lack of an MMO project has pushed developer Valve to integrate free-to-play and microtransaction elements into Team Fortress 2 and have convinced the team to use it as a platform to experiment and teat ideas that could then be added to other projects.

Robin Walker, who is the lead designer working on Team Fortress 2, has told Gamasutra that, “MMOs were the dominant story in the industry, and one concern we had was that we might not be able to survive if we didn’t build one. We were starting to feel the same way about micro-transactions as we did initially about MMOs: that our company was at risk if we didn’t have internal experience and hard data on them.”

He added, “In the end, TF2 has been ended up being one of the most useful tools we’ve ever built to reduce risk in our company’s future. The thought that if we hadn’t done it, we’d be here today without any data or experience with service based monetization strategies is quite terrifying.”

Valve is known for being one of the video game companies that does not conform to traditional rules and the fact that the company felt vulnerable without an MMO of its own might come as a surprise to its fans.

There are still long-term fans who don’t approve of the changes that Team Fortress 2 has received in the last few years and yearn for the purer experience that the game offered on launch.

But most of the player base has no problems with the free-to-play and microtransaction model because it allows Valve to continue working on the game, adding more items and changing the core gameplay elements at regular intervals.

Recently, the team-based shooter got a new Man vs. Machine mode and Valve says that more updates are already worked on.

Via: Valve Relied on Team Fortress 2 to Cover Absence of MMO