ONLINE GAMING – Pay-to-play, sometimes pay-for-play, is a phrase used for a variety of situations in which money is exchanged for services or the privilege to engage in certain activities. The common denominator of all forms of pay-to-play is that one must pay to “get in the game”, with the sports analogy frequently arising.
The term is also used as slang to refer to Internet services or apps that require that users pay to use them. Usually, it refers to a Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game (MMORPG), where players must pay to maintain a playing account, as is the case with Eve Online or World of Warcraft. This is in contrast to free-to-play games. Many formerly pay-to-play games have switched to a free-to-play model, including Ever Quest, Star Wars – The Old Republic, Aion – The Tower of Eternity and The Lord of the Rings Online. The game Rune Scape features both free accounts for no money or pay-to-play accounts, with a much larger list of features.
The term may also refer to something like the online game Habbo Hotel, where there are games inside the game, which you may pay-to-play to join into a game whilst it is in progress.
Several pay-to-play games are available at discount prices via our Online Shop.
SOURCE – Wikipedia