EUQL have recently published their first feature article entitled "Freedom Isn't Free". The article explores the future of free to play games, their effect on the establishment, and what the future might hold for the entire gaming community.

An excerpt:

"In the past if you walked into Game and asked for a freebie, the most you would get is a free smack in the teeth. Today the internet is a sea of free, mostly crappy games. For years websites like NewGrounds.com held an almost monopoly on free games, anything from the Britney Spears dress-up experience to watching an animated frog get blended. This genre of “a student’s first go” games are just scratching the surface. There are businesses making a lot of money from offering free services online.

A home for young gamers, casual gamers, and aggressive paedophiles – Neopets offers everyone free access to their sickly cute MMO / RPG world. It’s not alone, even my shielded step-brothers and sister regular Maple Story and RuneScape. These games are making money, a lot of money and it isn’t just advertising either, the key is to get the user hooked. As players become more and more involved they’re offered incentives to start paying up. Spending the odd few pounds on some in-game currency soon leads to signing up to the all bells and whistles package, just to get a few more hats for their character."

The entire article can be read over at www.EUQL.org