The makers of the semi-revolutionary FPSMMO Dust514 have announced that it will be free-to-play at launch. The game as it is set now, will directly impact what goes on in the fairly popular MMO Eve Online.
“It was a relatively confusing proposition,” executive producer Brandon Laurino explained to Eurogamer, “and we wanted to make it unambiguous that this is a free-to-play game.” CCP Games had announced that the game would be $20.00 at launch and then they would immediately give you $20.00 worth of in game stuff. “And we probably will still have some kind of pack like that,” Laurino added. This will be Starter Pack-like offer, but won’t be necessary to play Dust 514.
“It’s very important as we take steps into this topic to unambiguously state that it is not a pay to win game,” Laurino pressed on. “There is no micro-transaction that you can do that gives you an unfair advantage over someone who hasn’t paid anything. It’s the classic micro-transaction dynamic of, ‘I can pay and get this item,’ or, ‘I can invest my time and get this item.’ But neither of those options will give me an unfair advantage over the other.”
This is a part of Sony’s drive to add more MMO’s to its console. Previous PS3 MMO’s include DC Universe Online, the soon to be re-released Final Fantasy 14, and MAG.
CCP was founded in Iceland in June 1997 by Reynir Harðarson, Þorolfur Beck and Ívar Kristjánsson.