When a previously paid game goes free-to-play, sometimes it can be seen as a negative thing, as fans may assume that the title isn't getting enough sales. However, opening up a game to a free-to-play market can increase a player base rapidly, as there's practically no excuse for a gamer not to try out a title that will only cost them the time they put in and some space on their console or PC. Recently, Fall Guys joined the host of other free-to-play battle royales available, as well as releasing on Xbox and Switch.While there were some initial server issues when Fall Guys went free-to-play, these were resolved quickly, and developer Mediatonic has seen plenty of success from the move. It announced recently that after the first 48 hours of Fall Guys being free-to-play, the game had over 20 million players. These numbers are taken from all the platforms Fall Guys is currently available on, but Mediatonic didn't divide up which consoles had the most players.The massive increase of its player base is likely due in part to the release of Fall Guys on Nintendo Switch. Even with the graphical downgrade of the Nintendo Switch version of the battle royale, many believe that Fall Guys' simplistic gameplay and inviting visuals make it one of the best in its genre to pick up and play on the go. Still, it is impressive for a game to reach so many players in such a short amount of time after making the shift to free-to-play.
It seems that in addition to releasing on more major platforms, Fall Guys' quality has also led to the rapid increase in players. Some were concerned that a shift to free-to-play would reduce the quality of Mediatonic's stylish battle royale. However, there has so far been no noticeable drops in terms of the game's quality. There were even new pieces of cosmetic content players could pick up by signing up for Fall Guys before June 21.
Even with things looking very positive for Fall Guys right now, there are still some things that could go wrong and already some issues being pointed out by fans. Besides the small server issues caused by a giant influx of players, some have found the progression system of Season 1's battle pass to be working backwards, with it being more productive to lose a game in Fall Guys than to win one. Hopefully, these issues can be fixed in time and Fall Guys can continue to see success in its new free-to-play era.
Fall Guys is available now on PC, PS4, PS5, Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.