Soderlund: Freemium and premium games will 'coexist' on consoles

Freemium titles are not the future of console games, but rather a supplement to the already established premium business model, executive vice president of EA Studios Patrick Soderlund told MCV.

According to Soderlund, the console market differs from the cheaper, mobile one, where free-to-play and freemium games thrive. Soderlund compares it to YouTube and film, where "one does not remove the other one."

"There will be some games that will be free-to-play, but I also think that they will be different in nature to full games," Soderlund said. "I think a lot of people prefer to pay for the full game and get access to everything. And I wouldn't use the word free-to-play — they are not free.

"I think all these business models will co-exist. Some prefer to pay $60 and get the full experience. Sometimes when I play freemium games on mobile I feel ‘these guys just want more money.' When I pay $60 for Battlefield, I know what I am getting. And I think there are players that prefer that. And it's not a case of one or another, they can both exist and there may be hybrids too."