The bubble has burst as FOAMSTARS announces shift to free-to-play model

Posted on August 28, 2024

FOAMSTARS, Square Enix’s PlayStation-exclusive lukewarm entry into the live service shooter market which released only about six months ago is throwing in the bath towel and going free-to-play later this year. The game initially launched in February of this year with a $44.95 AUD price point and mandatory PlayStation+ subscription in order to play, and has evidently struggled to draw in a strong playerbase.

FOAMSTARS is a four-vs-four party shooter where players spray foam around the arena to damage their opponents and shape the battlefield around them. Upon its release, the game faced many comparisons to Nintendo’s Splatoon series, and despite launching as a free game for PS+ subscribers in its month of release, it never quite attracted the required playerbase to sustain a live-service experience. Being exclusive to PS4 and PS5 and with a fairly high price point compared to its free-to-play competition probably didn’t help its chances, nor did a mandatory subscription to PS+ to access any of its features in addition to the entry price. Square Enix is now attempting to save the drowning game by remedying some of those issues.

As per Square Enix’s announcement, FOAMSTARS will be going free-to-play from October 4th 2024. Furthermore, following this date, players will no longer require a PS+ subscription to play online. For those who have already purchased the game prior to the price change, the developer has confirmed that they will receive a free “Legacy Gift” that includes these exclusive in-game items:
– 12 exclusive color-variant Bubble Beastie skins
– 1 exclusive Slide Board design
– 1 title: “Legacy”

Shifting from a premium to a free-to-play pricing model is a risky one for FOAMSTARS, as it faces the chance of alienating the early adopters who paid money to play the game in its early months. Furthermore, it’s not always enough to bring in the playerbase and funds to support a live-service by that point; Knockout City made the jump to free-to-play and it unfortunately wasn’t enough to save it. With one of Sony’s other 2024 premium live-service shooters, Concord, releasing with a sub-700 player count on Steam, releasing a live-service shooter with a premium price point is clearly a risky move, and we may be seeing a similar monetisation shift by Firewalk Studios if things don’t pick up for Concord.

At any rate, if you were seeking to check out FOAMSTARS but didn’t want to crack open your wallet for a purchase or PS+ subscription, you will get your chance on October 4th. How or if the game’s monetisation model will change to compensate for the lack of an entry fee isn’t clear yet. We will likely find out more information closer to the date. It will remain to be seen if this change will be enough to keep the game’s support going for the foreseeable future.