EVE Online To Go Free-To-Play Later This Year
The long running MMO EVE Online is set to launch a free-to-play model in November as it attempts to remain popular in a hugely saturated market. The change in operation, which comes after 13 years of continuous service, will come in effect later in the year when the Clone States expansion releases to the public.
Unlike the way it currently works, the free-to-play model will see players able to enter the game world in full with a specific set of limitations. While most MMOs enforce a level cap on free players, EVE Online will simply restrict players to training on the most popular equipment.
“We’ve been doing everything we can to bring more people into our spectacular sandbox,” developer CCP revealed. “Part of our vision for the future of Eve has included more open access for some time, but with the interconnected nature of the game comes vulnerability.
“We knew that if the floodgates were opened in the wrong way, we could see anything from server meltdowns to the collapse of the Eve economy. Over time, our hardware has improved, code has been untangled (mostly!) and we’ve found a design we believe in. Eve is ready for this.”