If the proposition of buying DC Universe Online and then paying a monthly fee has been keeping you away from Sony Online Entertainment's MMO, prepare to enter Gotham City next month. In October, DC Universe Online goes free to play.
Both PlayStation 3 and PC players will be able to download and play the game for free. Three tiered levels will act as the game's revenue source from there along with in-game microtransactions. Here's the official breakdown from SOE.
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 (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 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.
If you've already paid for a PC lifetime subscription or a PS3 plan, that deal still stands when this switch happens in late October. This event also marks the end of DCUO's auto-renew feature. In the past, the game would automatically resubscribe you when your subscription lapsed. That's over now – a result of the more than 40 percent of people who quit EverQuest II and complained about the auto-renew in a SOE survey.
"We decided 'Let's listen to them'," said Lorin Jameson, SOE executive producer. "I don't know about you, but my credit card statement every month is this amalgam of s*** of MMOs that I'm too lazy to cancel. What we want is to offer people a way to not worry about that."
The announcement of the free to play move comes just seven months after SOE released DC Universe Online. SOE wouldn't go into the exact number of subscribers currently playing the game, but Jameson said numbers are up since the move to megaservers and that free to play was not in response to subscriber numbers.
"In terms of 'Is it a result in a drop in subs' – absolutely not," he said. "This is the right business model. If I can be honest, the game ended up costing a lot more than we thought it would, and this was our preferred business model from day one."
If you're a stickler for fair play, SOE said you don't have to worry about microtransactions breaking the game. Super-powerful items such as Superman's raid suit will not be purchasable and experience won't be for sale in October. The experience will be similar to Free Realms' free to play model, SOE said, and you can expect to see it in games that are out now and future releases.
"We are really seeing the benefits of free to play, and we're really liking it," Jameson said. "Needless to say we're paying close attention to it and maybe looking to make some surprise moves a little later."