S&box to go free-to-play with human curation, says "Netflix for games doesn't work"

Facepunch Studios plans to make its s&box platform free-to-play by the end of the year, shifting from sheer volume of games to promoting the best and most popular ones. Founder Garry Newman admitted the platform "is not well liked" and has poor retention, arguing that a "Netflix for games" model doesn't work. Existing buyers will receive exclusive Steam inventory items.

• s&box will become free-to-play by year's end, dropping the entry fee
• Those who paid $20 get more Steam bonuses than those who paid $10
• The Play Fund becomes an approval system for creators
• The 50 most played games shrank 22% in download size after republishing