Pattern description

Buy-to-play (B2P) is a revenue model for massively multiplayer online (MMO) video games that can only be played by purchasing the game, as opposed to there being a subsequent subscription fee for playing the game. These games may or may not include additional microtransactions, or may sell additional content in the form of expansions instead of asking for an ongoing subscription fee. Buy-to-play can be contrasted with Free-to-play (F2P), where users are granted access to a fully functional game (usually with limitations), but must pay microtransactions to access additional content. Pay-to-play (P2P) is a model in which a subscription payment is required on an ongoing basis, in order to use a service.

Inventive problems

References

Wikipedia. Buy-to-play.