The future of all games is with free-to-play and micro-transactions, according to the man behind Candy Crush.

King's Tommy Palm.

During an interview with IGN, King Games Guru (that’s his real job title) Tommy Palm spoke about other, more traditional games publishers exploring the free-to-play models frequently adopted by King.“The micro-transaction is so strong and it’s definitely a much better model. I think all companies have to transition over to that. If you talk to many hardcore gamers, they’re not happy about it right now, but if you asked them about the long term, “Do you want to continue playing your favourite game for years to come?’ And the answer will be yes.”Palm went on to stress the importance of sensible pricing and making games truly F2P. “I think for companies it is very important to find a good balance. Free-to-play games are difficult to do, and you really need to be good at making it feel balanced to the gamers. So it’s not too greedy.“At King, for instance, we took the decision to make our games truly free-to-play, so you will never end up in the position where you’re forced to pay. So you can play all the way to the end without having to pay. For instance, in Candy Crush, of the players who are on the last level, more than half of them didn’t pay to get there.”Pain went on to cite Hearthstone as an example of a great free-to-play title that is resonating with a more traditional gaming audience. “Just looking at Blizzard’s Hearthstone – it’s a great example of a F2P game that is made really well, it’s well balanced, and I don’t think many people are complaining about that business model. It’s easy to see if there’s concept that is close to your heart. It works out really well.”

Daniel is IGN's UK Games Editor. He sometimes writes about movies, too. You can be part of the world's most embarrassing cult by following him on IGN and Twitter