Hi. My name is Sergiy Galyonkin, and for the past twelve years, I have worked on free-to-play games, including most recently at Epic Games, where I spent eight years helping the company launch and monetize Fortnite: Save the World and then transition it to a free-to-play Fortnite: Battle Royale. I was part of the original publishing and monetization teams, working with incredibly talented people to develop the rotating cosmetics store and the modern battle pass.
This article describes my way of thinking about monetization. It is not a guide to monetizing your free-to-play game, but this approach is helpful when analyzing other products and developing a strategy for a title.
This is the model I’ve used since working at Wargaming (even before Epic Games) — so depending on how you look at it, it’s either outdated or has stood the test of time.