Japanese company Tapfun has just launched its new cloud-based video game platform for playing full-price games via browser. The platform is available via respective internet browsers on PC, smartphones and tablets. As reported by Famitsu, the first title releasing on the service will be Koei Tecmo’s Venus Vacation Prism – DEAD OR ALIVE Xtreme-. This comes right as the franchise enters its 9th year since release, and was one of the numerous announcements made to celebrate its anniversary.
Tapfun’s eponymous platform implements a “time-based light microtransaction model” for its games, meaning users are charged per time played. The company recently filed a patent application for the model, explaining that the platform uses its in-house technology to host games. Thirty minutes of gameplay will cost from around 290 yen (roughly $2 USD), but the first hour of a game will be available for free. This is meant to give players enough time to check out the game, like a free demo. When the first hour runs out users get to decide whether they want to continue or not. This sounds rather similar to the arcade experience, though the company promises to host full-priced, “high-end games.”
As noted by Tapfun, since the platform is cloud-based, you won’t need to do any downloading or installing, and the games will be able to run regardless of how strong or weak the machine you’re playing on is. Apparently, the company is aiming its new platform at people who “are interested in games but don’t buy them.” While the only full-priced title currently hosted on the website is Venus Vacation Prism (the only two other titles include an NFT/Web-3 based game and an AI game), Tapfun seems interested in expanding their roster with other existing IPs.
Venus Vacation Prism – DEAD OR ALIVE Xtreme – is out for browser via TapFun. Note that the platform is currently only available in Japan.
