Sony Online Entertainment has announced that DC Universe Online will be switching to a free-to-play model featuring three tiers. Between the attractiveness of being “freemium” and the popularity of DC Comics’ “The New 52“, the game stands to catch another wave of success. Here are some more details from executive director of development Lorin Jameson via PlayStation Blog:
- Free Access – Just like it sounds. Download and play the game for free. You also get all ongoing game updates (except DLC packs).
- Premium Access – This next level of access opens up to you if you spend at least $5 in the in-game store. Premium Access grants you additional benefits that improve your experience in the game, such as more inventory slots, more character slots, bank slots and more free Vault tickets. So all you have to do is pick up some cool items in the store or buy a DLC pack and you unlock Premium Access. The best part? Once you unlock Premium Access you keep it for the life of your account.
- Legendary Access – With Legendary Access you can unlock the maximum level of features and benefits. To unlock Legendary Access you can pay for a $14.99 per month game pass, or save big with a discounted multi-month pass. Lifetime members are automatically granted Legendary access. Legendary Access also includes all DLC packs at no extra charge.
I haven’t touched DCUO in months, but I’d be interested in giving it another go if any of you are down. So how about it? Any of you guys and dolls thinking of playing DCUO when it becomes free-to-play?
This is a smart maneuver with everything DC going on and the recent PS3 price cut.
I will play it when its FREE. I wanted to try it out anyway.
Is a DLC pack considered an expansion?
No.
They had a few expansions while I was playing that never cost anything. I assume that DLC is something else that every user doesn't "need" to play the game (unlike the expansions).
Oh ok. I was wondering what DLC was. Content patches, expansions, DLC…it all runs together at times.
I don't know if this fixes my problem with the game… which is the heavy "wash, rinse, repeat" structure of the gameplay. It bores the hell out of me.
That… and the community sucks. Leagues will talk about how they need you and your role in them for raids so badly, but when gear comes up that you are seriously the only person in the raid who can use it… they roll against you anyway because in the long run, they don't care about you getting better, they care about their individual bragging rights.
That, and getting a raid together with 8 of the right roles can take a VERY long time.
I will get it for sure now! I need to upgrade my ps3 hdd or make room asap!