Dungeons and Dragons Online to switch to free-to-play
Turbine announces that an upgrade this summer will change the subscription-based MMO to a microtransaction model
Turbine has announced that it will introduce a free-to-play model to its massively-multiplayer online game Dungeons & Dragons Online.
A digital upgrade titled Dungeons & Dragons Online: Eberron Unlimited will launch this summer, and will allow new users to play for free and purchase additional content through micro-transactions in a new venue called the DDO Store.
Players will also be able to join what is called the DDO VIP program for unlimited access to all premium content; essentially a similar model to the existing subscription-based accounts.
"Historically, players of free online games were forced to sacrifice the quality of their experience," said Turbine president and CEO Jim Crowley. "Those days are over. The new DDO Unlimited is the most innovative, exciting and graphically rich MMO to ever hit the free-to-play market and it changes the very nature of what it means to be free-to-play."
In January, Turbine revealed plans for a micro-transaction model in a job posting. Though a representative at the time said that the posting did not apply to existing projects, this no longer appears to be the case.