Glossary
What does free-to-play mean?
A free-to-play game costs nothing to download and play. It makes its money from optional in-game purchases, such as currency, cosmetics or a battle pass.
Published Updated
How it works
The whole game, or most of it, is free. The publisher earns from in-game purchases instead of a box price. Some free games hold back part of the game for paying players, through a subscription or a membership.
Free doesn't mean no cost. Our game pages list what the premium currency and battle pass cost in the UK.
In the games we track
- Team Fortress 2: has been free to play since 23 June 2011.
- EVE Online: free with limits as an "Alpha" clone since November 2016; full access needs an Omega subscription.
- Counter-Strike 2, Fortnite and Valorant: free, and sell passes and cosmetics.
- Path of Exile 2: leaves Early Access and launches free-to-play on 11 December 2026.
Sources
- Wikipedia – Free-to-play, published by en.wikipedia.org
- Wikidata – Free-to-play (Q1414510), published by wikidata.org
More terms
- Action RPG
- Battle pass
- Battle royale
- Co-op
- Collectible card game
- Concurrent players
- Cosmetic item
- DLC
- Drop rate
- Early access
- ESRB rating
- Expansion
- Expected value
- First-person shooter
- Gacha game
- Hero shooter
- In-game purchases
- Loot box
- Looter shooter
- MMORPG
- MOBA
- Open world
- PEGI rating
- Pity
- Premium currency
- Real-time strategy
- Remaster
- Role-playing game
- Season
- Season pass
- Subscription
- Survival horror
- Tactical shooter
- USK rating