Buy-to-Play

Buy-to-play is a video game business model in which players make a single upfront purchase to gain access to a game, rather than paying an ongoing subscription fee. The model is most often used for games that continue to receive server maintenance and regular content updates after launch, particularly massively multiplayer online games, so many buy-to-play titles pair the initial purchase with additional revenue streams such as microtransactions or optional expansion passes. Guild Wars 2, for example, lets players buy additional in-game items through microtransactions, while Destiny 2 sells season passes for extra content on top of its base purchase. Buy-to-play sits between the pure subscription model, which charges players on a recurring basis for continued access, and the free-to-play model, which offers the game itself at no cost and relies entirely on in-game purchases; buy-to-play and free-to-play have both gained ground against subscription pricing, a shift reflected in the decline of World of Warcraft's subscriber numbers since 2011.