The upcoming Playstation 3 exclusive massively multiplayer online first-person shooter, Dust 514, will be adopting a free-to-play model once it is released. Originally, this title was supposed to cost gamers between $10 and $20 as a cover charge to enjoy the game. Thankfully, that is no longer the case.
Executive producer Brandon Laurino had the following to say about the shift in direction for DUST 514:
“It was a relatively confusing proposition and we wanted to make it unambiguously that this a free-to-play game. It’s very important as we take steps into this topic to unambiguously state that it is not a pay to win game. There is no micro-transaction that you can do that gives you an unfair advantage over someone who hasn’t paid anything. It’s the classic micro-transaction dynamic of, ‘I can pay and get this item,’ or, ‘I can invest my time and get this item.’ But neither of those options will give me an unfair advantage over the other.”
And apparently players will have plenty of stuff to spend their cash on as the developers “already have hundreds upon hundreds” of items ready for purchase. However, all of these items may or may not be available day one. They are still deciding on whether or not the content should be rolled out over a set period of time.
Also, it seems the PS Vita will be seeing a variation of the game, but it isn’t what you might think. It has been described as a “companion app” that allows players to customize their character, shop for new items or assess new strategies on-the-go. More features will be tested later on as the developers discover more possibilities for connectivity between the two devices.
