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Sony Online Entertainment has announced DC Universe Online will be going free-to-play in October for both the PlayStation 3 and PC. The massively multiplayer online role playing game allowed players to fight alongside DC Comics icons like Superman, Green Lantern, and The Joker. However, things have been looking bad for DCUO for a while now. In August the game announced that they'd be merging their servers in to "mega servers" which is never a good sign for a MMO.
"When we launched DC Universe Online, we introduced a very different brand of massive online game driven by fast action combat to PC and PS3 gamers and with that, we discovered a new type of online gamer," said John Smedley, President, Sony Online Entertainment. "We've listened to our community, and we've determined that the free-to-play model is the best fit for DC Universe Online."
Beginning in "late October" you'll be able to download and access DCUO for free on both the PlayStation 3 and the PC. There will be three ways to play the game: Free, Premium, and Legendary. All of the levels will give you access to open world gameplay and missions, but the Premium and Legendary options will offer "different game options and benefits."
Check after the break to see what each of the different memberships contain.
- Free: New players will now have access to the current gameplay in DC Universe Online (including Gotham City, Metropolis, and all current raids and alerts), with the ability to create two characters, join a league and many other benefits. Free level players will be able to purchase downloadable game packs/updates, additional character slots, powers and more through microtransactions.
- Premium: Any player who has spent at least $5 USD (including former paid subscribers and new players who have purchased $5 of in-game items) will qualify for the Premium access level. Premium level players will have more benefits available to them than the Free level player, including additional character slots, additional inventory slots, and higher cash limits. Downloadable adventure packs, additional character slots, and more can be purchased in-game.
- Legendary: Maximum features and benefits are included at this level. Loaded with enhanced additional features, Legendary access will be available for a $14.99 USD monthly fee and includes all DLC packs at no cost, more than 15 character slots, more than 80 inventory slots, the ability to form unrestricted-sized leagues, and many other benefits.
I'm going to be the first to admit that I'm really not surprised that DCUO is going free-to-play. I think it will be good for the game, and I think that because it was so dated at the start it never was worth such a high monthly fee. As most of the paid MMOs are starting to go the free-to-play route, I'd be interested what you guys think of Star Wars: The Old Republic still going with a monthly fee business model.
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Comments
Displaying 1–18 of 18
hoof_hearted4
i still dont think ill try it....MAYBE...but im not jumping my seat for this news. honestly i enjoy Champions Online which is F2P. i played and paid before it was such, and i played a little over the summer for a month and paid. well worth it imo. i emjoy that game for about a month here and there. i will pay for SWTOR gladly, as excited as i am for that game i will prolly only play for a month, take a break, and resubscribe a few months later and play again. with any MMO i play i subscribe for a month and cancel it right away. i get my month and thats it. even when i played WoW i only lasted a few weeks, didnt even use my whole month lol.
with MMOs where you have to pay and then they go F2P at some point, the F2P usually isnt worth it cause your missing a lot of things, esp if you played before it was F2P. a game needs to be F2P to begin with for it to work as a F2P game.
ShinjiEx
in 2-3 years paying to play for an MMO will be outed even for Star Wars Old Republic & WOW
People just don't want to pay to play 1 single game when there is so many great games out there that don't require a fee to play whether that happens to be a F2P game or console game for that matter
MikesTheGreatest12
there trying to compete against marvels upcoming mmo that is going to be free to play so thats why there going free to play.
Cryptomaster420
looks like SOE are not making that much money on DCUO
Jtoon
I played this when it first came out and enjoyed myself. Though like everyone said they released it too early and my PS3 kept freezing which caused me to worry if my PS3 would break so I decided to quit. I have played a few FTP and they pretty much come to play to win with limits on banking, mail, and other stuff like in EQ2x access to upper tier spells. So I might try it but I don't have high hopes.
AntiFox08
DCUO should've been f2p in the first place. I played the closed beta and there wasn't much offered. Besides, it's definitely not like that tiny switch from closed to retail had all sorts of new features. They just fine tuned what was in closed (seemed like mostly the ui).
animeandmangarule
sweet! I was always on the fence about buying because of the monthly fee. 15 dollars a month may not seem lie a lot, but on a budget it is. I just wonder if the character creation part is going to be the full thing as it is in the pay for game, or if you'll need to buy better options from the PS store. Either way, i'm definitively downloading and playing this in October!
KingGainerXan
So it's goint to be free to download? Just as a curiosity, what's going to happen to all those DCUO game discs sitting on store shelves now? And would that 'spend $5 for premium service' include those who already bought the game on disc?
Jacben
I'd gladly pay per month for TOR, I'd rather fork out 15 a month knowing I have access to everything I want then have to dip into my pockets every time something strikes my fancy. in the long run I'd end spending more money on the free to play then I would on the Pay per month. Besides.. most free to plays have a tendancy to slide into the pay to win department.
yogi_bear_rules
now they are talking complete crap now. Sony will never go fully free to play. its probably something like Warcraft did with the free to play to lvl 15 or something. they will probably double the initial purchase price because that's what Sony does.
njdss4
I'm fine with TOR having a monthly subscription, because I think it will be one of the very few MMOs worth paying for monthly. WoW used to be worth it, GW2 would have been worth it but there won't be one (awesome), but DCUO was never worth it.
I will give this game a try once it goes F2P as long as they don't try to nickel and dime me to death with paid content barriers and level cap increases.
Harbinger2nd
And this ladies and gentlemen, is why GW2 is such an appealing MMO.
martymar82
This game was too hyped and it dropped the ball big time, not a huge MMO fan but I really wanted this one to go somewhere.
bronco1991
I might play this if it wouldn't take 2 weeks to download on my ps3
cwbys21
I think EA has to try the subscription route, simply because they paid a premium for Bioware because of the possibility of the massive profits it could rake in. Quite frankly though, after seeing TOR and Guild Wars 2 videos, I can't see myself paying a monthly fee for TOR when GW2 is packing in so much awesome for just the price of the box.
inferno959
I would, and do plan to, buy and pay monthly for SWTOR but I would not be surprised nor would I bash people who decide not to saying that they would rather wait till it goes free to play because even though I'm a huge supporter I believe it will eventually. that's not to say I think the game will be a flop or go under or anything. I just think that it's the best business model for an MMO out right now. WoW being the exception of course. There's no need to go free to play when you have hundreds of thousands worldwide who will gladly pay and HAVE BEEN for a very long time
Tim_1138
I'm as big of a Star Wars fan and video games fan as you are going to find, and I will not be paying a monthly subscription for SWTOR
Misha77
I would buy the Old Republic is it was going the same route
Displaying 1–18 of 18
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