Failbetter nearly went out of business a couple of years ago. StoryNexus didnt work out for us, we werent getting any more client projects (the Last Court was the last) and I had to lay off half the team, all of them personal friends. Sunless Sea has done pretty well, and were growing, and were in a good place. But that near-extinction left me determined that Failbetters priorities would be safety, fun and profit, in that order.
Priority one: we want to be sure we can stay afloat. Priority two: we want to keep doing projects that we genuinely enjoy which is the whole reason were in this business. And thirdly, moneys always nice, but that comes last.
Games are a hit-driven business. We dont know how well our next game after Sunless Sea will do the games industry changes wildly every year, and we are competing with entertainment leviathans and passionate, ambitious indies. So were spreading our bets. The great thing about Fallen London is that although it never covers all our costs, it gives us a steady and reliable income every month as long as we keep feeding it content. This gives us space for experimentation and polish elsewhere . If our next game flops which could happen for reasons completely outside our control we have a bit of breathing space. If we mess with Fallen London, we risk losing that breathing space, and alienating a long-term, loyal fan-base whove grown fond of this approach a game you can play in five minutes in a browser tab at work.
Fallen London is staying F2P because were not after a quick buck were in this for the long haul. This is, of course, the same reason that our monetization strategies are about the most gentle and polite in the whole industry, which is why well never be rich. Industry consultants point and laugh at our bizarre strategy of earning money by making new content.