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Sony Online Entertainment has announced its attention to transition PS3 and PC MMO outing DC Universe Online to a free-to-play model next month.
Currently players must pay a monthly subscription fee, on top of the game purchase itself.
IGN reports that new players joining under the F2P model will have access to the game’s current gameplay and cities including Gotham City and Metropolis. They will be allowed to create two characters.
DLC and other perks such as additional character slot will be available to purchase via the in-game store.
The second tier of membership – called Premium – is open to any player who has spent at least $5 on the game (either via microtransactions or subscriptions). They will get free additional character and inventory slots and a greater range of in-game purchasables.
Legendary members, meanwhile, is reserved for those who wish to continue spending $14.99 a month on their subscription. As a reward, they will get all content and DLC for free as well as a host of other benefits such as 15 character slots and 80 inventory slots.
"We decided ‘Let’s listen to them’," SOE executive producer Lorin Jameson stated. "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.
"In terms of ‘Is it a result in a drop in subs’ – absolutely not.
"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."
