The Nex Machina developers might soon try to emulate the classic arcades of yesteryear by implementing a new mode that charges players 25 cents per life. 

According to Housemarque's head of publishing Mikael Haveri, who was speaking during a recent Gamasutra Twitch stream, the additional mode wouldn't supplant the existing options.

Instead, it'd give hardcore players a retro-inspired challenge that'd have the added benefit of helping to keep the lights on back at the studio.

"We have some things in the backlog list of things to try, and one of them is called 'pure arcade mode.' And it's an arcade mode where you pay a quarter per play or continue - so maybe you buy tokens with a dollar - and there's no pause."

"The leaderboards of course would only be for people who paid that entry price. We did play around with that idea, and who knows, maybe it'll see the light of day eventually."

Those separate leaderboards wouldn't be the only incentive for players to pay-to-play. Haveri also suggested the studio might use  the cash to finance a Nex Machina eSports tournament and break into the world of competitive gaming. 

"That's something we'd love to do," he added. "We see potential in this game as being a competitive type of game, even though it's very different from modern eSports titles. These are all things we'd love to do, but we'll need to talk to our community and see how the game performs."

To hear more from Haveri, be sure to check out the full stream right here. After that, why not follow the Gamasutra Twitch channel for even more developer insights and gameplay commentary.