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{{trope}}
[[File:
Games that run on a '''Freemium''' model will have two modes:
# Play for free. You can play as long as you like without paying, but some amount of content will be unavailable, and you might have to deal with annoying advertisements.
# Upgrade to a paid account. This gives you full access to the features that weren't available for free, but you have to shell out some dough for the privilege (almost always a monthly fee).
Unlike games that use [[Microtransactions]], Freemium games have a binary distinction between those who pay and those who do not: you're either Free, or you're Premium. This tends to limit the [[Bribing Your Way to Victory]]
Offering a [[30-Day Free Trial]] of the Premium version is commonplace, but if the Free version itself ''is'' a [[30-Day Free Trial]], it's not this trope.
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Compare and contrast [[Shareware]].
{{See also
{{examples}}
▲== [[Live Action TV]] ==
* Stephen Colbert jokingly offers "Colbert Platinum" segments for ''[[The Colbert Report]]'''s very rich viewers, instructing everyone else to look away until it's over.
{{quote|"Remember folks, this segment is for Platinum viewers only! So if your next trip has an in-flight ''movie'' instead of an in-flight ''safari'', why don't you run along and count how many frequent flyer miles you need to upgrade to an aisle seat? ''[[Beat]]'' Are they gone? Good."}}
== [[Video Games]] ==
* ''[[Club Penguin]]'' accounts are upgraded via monthly subscription.
* ''[[
* ''[[Adventure Quest]]'' requires a one-time fee of $20 in order to upgrade your account to a "Guardian", unlocking additional content.
* ''[[Free Realms]]'' membership starts at around $4.00 per month. The game features [[Micro Payments]] as well. [[Irony|Ironic]] considering [[Allegedly Free Game|its name]].
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* ''[[Dark Orbit]]'' features two kinds of currencies: credits, which may be obtained generating and selling minerals (for free; it just requires you to be [[Money Grinding|clickittyclickittypatient]]); and Uridium, which are obtained mainly paying a monthly fee. You can find both types of currency roaming randomly through the space and completing missions, but Uridium are much rarer, and, of course, [[Bribing Your Way to Victory|Uridium buy the coolest things]].<ref>To clarify: in the shop, all items have a fixed price, in credits or Uridium. You can still auction any item for credits, but you need '''lots''' of luck or '''lots''' of money. Or both. Or logging in at ungodly hours when no one's awake (it kind of helps that ''[[Dark Orbit]]'' servers are country-specific).</ref>
* ''[[Sryth]]'' has a lot of content available for free. Buying a subscription (9.95 USD for 3 months, or 19.95 USD for 1 whole year) grants access to even more content: The ability to log in regardless of server load, no ads, more character slots (4 instead of 2), more adventures, more events, more locations to visit, a way to learn all skills and powers instead of just some of them, Grand Residences, Multiplayer scenarios… See [http://www.sryth.com/ci.php?f_c=members_ag_fb.inc this page] for an incomplete list of the things subscribers get.
* ''[[Dungeons and Dragons Online]]'' was one of the first [[
* ''[[City of Heroes]]'' introduced this
* ''[[ARMA: Armed Assault|ARMA]] 2: Free'' is a free-to-play counterpart to ''ARMA 2'' released two years after the retail game, advertised as free of microtransactions and allowing Free players to play alongside or against players who'd bought the game. Unlike ''ARMA 2'' however, the free version does not include the official campaigns, has toned-down graphics quality compared to the paid versions, and does not support the use of [[Game Mod|addons]]
* ''[[Video Game/Draw Something|Draw Something]]'' has a free version with ads and a pay version ($.99) without ads.
* ''[[Serious Sam]] HD: The Second Encounter'' has gone this route - competitive multiplayer is now free to play, with the actual singleplayer/co-op game available as the "Campaign DLC".
* In addition to items and experience boosts obtained by spending Gold, bought with real money, any ''[[Starsiege: Tribes|Tribes: Ascend]]'' player who has ever spent any amount of money on the game gets VIP status which grants a permanent 50% EXP bonus; this stacks multiplicatively with the bought experience booster packs. VIP will also grant you access to premium servers available only to paying players, [[Perpetual Beta|if they ever come online that is]].
== [[Web Comics]] ==
* [[Parodied]] by ''[[Penny Arcade (Webcomic)|Penny Arcade]]'' in [http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2007/5/11/ this strip].
== [[Web Original]] ==
* ''[[Homestar Runner]]'' [[Parodied]] this in an [[April Fools' Day]] prank, "[https://web.archive.org/web/20131106184918/http://www.homestarrunner.com/payplus.html HomestarRunner.com PAY PLUS!]"
* The [[Day Nine]] Daily, a web show for ''[[
== Other Media ==
* The web radio service [http://www.pandora.com Pandora] is free to use, but upgrading to [http://www.pandora.com/pandora_one?ref=subscribeLink Pandora One] provides such perks as unlimited listening time, pause/rewind/skip options, no ads, and such.
* [http://www.hulu.com Hulu] offers free video streaming for popular TV shows and movies. Signing up for "Hulu Plus" expands the available video library significantly, as well as letting you watch (some) streams on a Playstation 3.
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* Some file download sites offer superior service to users who purchase premium memberships. These include faster download speed, no time between downloads, no download limits and the ability to download multiple files at once. Examples:
** [http://www.4shared.com/premium.jsp?ref=header 4shared Premium]
** [https://web.archive.org/web/20111210162234/http://www.filesonic.com/premium Filesonic Premium]
** [http://hotfile.com/premium.html Hotfile Premium]
** [http://www.scribd.com Scribd]: Getting a subscription allows you to download as many documents as you like for a specific period of time.
* [[Deviant ART]] removes ads for paying members. Successful artists may have premium memberships gifted to
* [[
* A running gag on [[Image Boards|4chan]] / [[Facebook]] / [[Ponychan]] is to post an image that says "Image requires a 4chan/Facebook/Ponychan GOLD account". People will then post what an awesome picture it was, prompting someone to eventually ask "How do I get GOLD acct.?!" and thus outing themselves as a noob.
* [[TV Tropes]] takes payments from users to take ads off of forum pages, or to get little badges next to a username in the forums.
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[[Category:Advertising Tropes]]
[[Category:Videogame Culture]]
[[Category:
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