Free to Play Genre
(7140 games)
Free to Play games released over time
This graph shows games released over the years in the Free to Play genre and the percentage they represent. The number of releases gives an appreciation of the quantity of games published each year. It often tends to increase naturally, just like the total amount of Steam games released.
The percentage gives a better estimate of the genre's trend. It shows if the Free to Play genre is getting more or less popular amongst developers. The Review chart can let us know if this trend is a positive thing (i.e. players interest for the genre is growing) or a negative one (the genre is overcrowded).
The Free to Play genre has peaked in 2022, with 1211 games released. The genre's popularity is in a range between 0.45% in 2010 and 3.5% in 2023.
Bear in mind that 2023 is not over yet. The number of releases will continue to increase, but the percentage is already a good estimate of things to come.
Evolution of Free to Play game reviews
This graph displays the reviews for games associated with the Free to Play genre, both as count and as a percentage of all Steam reviews, and the value for an average game. If the normalized and average lines are too small, you can deactivate the review count and % of the average lines by clicking on the legend.
While the review count clearly quantifies the reviews a genre receives, keep in mind that it also follows the popularity of Steam itself. The value normalized as a percentage of all Steam reviews is often more revealing, as it gives you the popularity trend for Free to Play genre games.
A standard game associated with this genre received on average between 43 (2010) and 2461 (2014) reviews. Bear in mind that it is the average, and it can be strongly influenced by extreme values, like the release of a very popular game with this genre.
The reviews per game as a percentage of the average show that games in the Free to Play genre received between 117% (2010) and 434% (2017) reviews compared to other genres.
Price of games in Free to Play genre
This graph displays the evolution of the Free to Play genre's games price in USD over the years, and the percentage of free to play games in this genre. Bear in mind that there is inflation over time, which means that a price should slowly increase just to keep the same value.
The median price for Free to Play games was at its lowest in 2016 at 0$, and peaked in 2023 at 3.99$. The free to play ratio was at its lowest in 2018 at 93%, and peaked in 2021 at 97%.
Positive reviews for the Free to Play genre, per language
This chart shows an aggregated Steam rating for all the Free to Play genre games, classed by language. It helps estimate how different audiences judge a game with this genre. A lower rating doesn't necessarily mean that the audience doesn't like that genre. Some cultures have different standards and expectations. It will however affect a game's rating nonetheless.
The highest rating for Free to Play is 90% for the Romanian language, and the lowest is 70% for the Japanese language.
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| Image | Name | Description | Price | Rating | Release Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
  | Team Fortress 2 | Nine distinct classes provide a broad range of tactical abilities and personalities. Constantly updated with new game modes, maps, equipment and, most importantly, hats! | Free | 91.1% | Oct 10, 2007 |
  | Dota 2 | Every day, millions of players worldwide enter battle as one of over a hundred Dota heroes. And no matter if it's their 10th hour of play or 1,000th, there's always something new to discover. With regular updates that ensure a constant evolution of gameplay, features, and heroes, Dota 2 has taken on a life of its own. | Free | 85.2% | Jul 9, 2013 |
  | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive | Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) expands upon the team-based action gameplay that it pioneered when it was launched 19 years ago. CS: GO features new maps, characters, weapons, and game modes, and delivers updated versions of the classic CS content (de_dust2, etc.). | Free | 90.4% | Aug 21, 2012 |
  | Bloodline Champions | Bloodline Champions is a Free-to-Play online PvP Arena game where players engage in short, intense battles of up to ten players divided into two teams. Each player takes control over one of several bloodlines, each with their own unique weapons and abilities. Easy to learn, challenging to master. | Free | 85.3% | Oct 28, 2011 |
  | EVE Online | EVE Online is a free-to-play community driven space MMO where players can choose their own path from countless different options. Experience space exploration, immense PvP and PvE battles, mining, industry and a thriving player economy in an ever-expanding sandbox. | Free | 80.4% | Dec 15, 2010 |
  | Champions Online | Grab your cape and defend Millennium City in this comic book-style action MMORPG! Design your hero and costume from thousands of costume pieces, face super-villains like Dr. Destroyer, and create your own unique nemesis. | Free | 58.9% | Jun 14, 2011 |
  | Star Trek Online | In Star Trek Online, the Star Trek universe appears for the first time on a truly massive scale. Players take the captain's chair as they command their own starship and crew. Explore strange new worlds, seek out new life and new civilizations, and boldly go where no one has gone before. | Free | 75.7% | Jan 31, 2012 |
  | Dragon Nest | Dragon Nest is an online action role-playing game that combines the blazingly fast combat and visually stunning attacks of a console game with the epic story and role-playing elements of classic MMORPGs. | Free | 48.3% | Dec 18, 2012 |
  | Zombie Panic! Source | Dive into the zombie apocalypse with Zombie Panic! Source: a cooperative, survival-horror first-person-shooter. A fast-paced standalone modification. | Free | 84.4% | Oct 3, 2008 |
  | Pirates, Vikings, and Knights II | Pirates, Vikings, and Knights II pits three teams against each other in a struggle for wealth, power and total domination. Whether using the Gunpowder Keg to clear out a territory full of enemies, or the Javelin to pin your dead foes to a wall, you'll find this game both hilarious and exhilarating. | Free | 87.1% | Feb 12, 2010 |
  | Dystopia | Dystopia is a cyberpunk game with tense combat situations in a high-tech world spanned by computer networks. Playing as either Punk mercenaries, or Corporate security forces, the player will fight through the physical world to gain access, via jack-in terminals, to cyberspace. | Free | 84.9% | Feb 6, 2009 |
  | Empires Mod | Unique strategy/first person shooter mix: One commander on each team plays from above, choosing research, placing buildings and giving orders. The rest fill the role of soldiers on the ground, with four distinct classes to choose from and customizable vehicles to drive. | Free | 76.2% | Jul 28, 2008 |
  | BRINK | You decide the combat role you want to assume in the world of Brink as you fight to save yourself and mankind’s last refuge! | Free | 58.7% | May 9, 2011 |
  | DC Universe™ Online | DC Universe Online is a Free-to-Play, massive multiplayer online action game set in the popular DC Universe. Become one of a new breed of Heroes or Villains and wield incredible powers as you go to war with legendary characters such as Batman, Superman, Lex Luthor and The Joker. | Free | 72.6% | Nov 2, 2011 |
  | RIFT | Dive into a world of epic adventure! Create your perfect hero thanks to a uniquely customizable class system. Collect, craft, and customize your gear. Go it alone or group up to challenge dungeons, raids, dynamic open-world content, and your fellow players. | Free | 75.4% | Mar 1, 2011 |
  | Altitude | Now Available on PC, Mac and Linux! | Free | 94.8% | Dec 4, 2009 |
  | Stronghold Kingdoms | A massively multiplayer grand strategy game, Stronghold Kingdoms is about forging alliances, political mind games, city-building and castle sieges with thousands of other players! | Free | 64.5% | Feb 27, 2012 |
  | Agricultural Simulator 2011: Extended Edition | Assume the role of a farmer to make and manage your land. Invest in CLAAS machinery, crops, livestock, and other improvements. | 2.99 | 47.7% | Feb 23, 2011 |
  | The Cat and the Coup | In The Cat and the Coup, you play the cat of Dr. Mohammed Mossadegh, the first democratically elected Prime Minister of Iran. During the summer of 1953, the CIA engineered a coup to bring about his downfall. | Free | N/A | Jun 15, 2011 |
  | Spiral Knights | Join the ranks of the Spiral Knights. Stranded on an alien world, you must explore the ever-changing Clockworks beneath its surface. | Free | 82.5% | Jun 14, 2011 |
  | Puzzle Pirates | Every activity in Puzzle Pirates is a uniquely fun puzzle: be it sailing, gunning, or hauling treasure, your own puzzling skill determines your success! | Free | 53.3% | Aug 31, 2011 |
  | Neverwinter | Neverwinter is a free, action MMORPG based on the acclaimed Dungeons & Dragons fantasy roleplaying game. Epic stories, action combat and classic roleplaying await those heroes courageous enough to enter the fantastic world of Neverwinter! | Free | 76.7% | Dec 5, 2013 |
  | APB Reloaded | The world’s first and premier Action MMO Third Person Shooter allows you to choose between two sides of the law. Play as Enforcer or Criminal, customize your gear for the task at hand and hit the streets and play how you want in a city filled with more action this side of a Hollywood blockbuster. | Free | 48.7% | Dec 6, 2011 |
  | Fallen Earth Classic | Fallen Earth Classic is a free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing game developed by Reloaded Productions and operated by Little Orbit. The game takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland located around the American Grand Canyon. | Free | 40.7% | Feb 22, 2012 |
  | Realm of the Mad God Exalt | Team up with dozens of players and battle through the Realm of the Mad God, Oryx. With a retro 8-bit style, Realm is an evolution of traditional MMO gameplay. | Free | 80.8% | Feb 20, 2012 |