Let it not be said that Sony Online Entertainment is resting on it’s laurels. This past Friday saw the release of not one, but two free-to-play games from Sony, one old, and re-engineered for a free to play market, while the other is completely new, and targeted at a much different audience.
EverQuest II Extended!
Sony’s EverQuest II, in the gaming world, is older than the hills, and has been through various phases of development and franchise highs and lows. To this end, Sony has taken a page from Turbine’s playbook, and flipped the subscription model to a free-to-play, as well as revamped the entire look and feel of the game, further compelling those on the fence to give this classic another look.
EverQuest II Extended, as it’s officially dubbed, offers players an interesting take on free-to-play in so much as the free version is actually part of a much larger EverQuest world, on that does include subscriptions. The thinking here is that gamers will have the choice to play free-to-play OR subscription based, with both services running in parallel.
Of note: SOE keeps referring to the opening of EverQuest II Extended! as a part of “SOE’s new free adventure service.” And while they’ve not specifically pointed this out, one can not see this reoccurring theme without wondering…what’s going on behind the curtain? Is this method/model a testing ground for something much larger?
Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures
And in the same breath, on the other side of the time space continuum, SOE announced the official opening of Beta testing on the highly anticipated upcoming Star Wars: Clone Wars Adventures.
The free-to-play Star Wars title is scheduled for a September 15th debut, and eager Jedi’s can help Sony fine tune the final details. The free-to-play is poised to led gamers battle to the death with custom lightsabers, as well as blast across the galaxy in Starfighters, as well as take down starships.
Again, as with EverQuest II, the newest Star Wars offering is free-to-play, OR gamers can plunk down $5.99/month for a subscription. In lieu of said subscription, SOE is offering up a host of microtransaction goodies that can be purchased via Station Cash, Sony’s in-house currency.
At or around the official launch, Sony is also offering “The Clone Wars Adventures Galactic Passport” bundle which will include a 90 day membership, 500 Station Cash, as well as the ability to unlock an exclusive Togruta, or Yoda monitor trooper.
And while there’s not express mention of the “free adventure service” here in the Star Wars announcement, I wouldn’t be surprised to see it make it’s way into the marketing materials sooner than later.
Either way you look at it, two great offerings from Sony, and both free-to-play! It’s fair to say that going free-to-play is no longer groundbreaking, but it’s important to remember, with EverQuest II running parallel options of playing, they are setting an industry first, as no other game or gaming firm offers this option. It should prove interesting to see what Sony does with this, and how the associated communities will take to the business model.
Tags: Clone Wars Adventures, everquest ii, soe, Sony Online Entertainment, star wars
