Hi beloved PS Blog readers – we hope you have been enjoying our series of articles here. We have some big news about DUST 514 coming out this week and wanted to write a more personal note about it here, to you.
The development of DUST 514 has been an amazing experience, as we at CCP pioneer new frontiers for console games in collaboration with Sony. It has really been a process of exploring and breaking new ground – running an MMO service that needs constant updates on a console, microtransactions on a console, connecting an MMO on console to an MMO on PC in a real time shared universe and the Marketplace between the two – and there’s even more to come. Today, I’m writing about one more of those things – DUST 514 will be free to play on PlayStation 3!
This news means DUST 514 is the first ever game built from the ground up as a free to play MMOFPS on console, exclusively on the PlayStation 3. Thanks to how Sony has set up the PlayStation Network – and the innovations they have been making on it together with us – Sony’s console platform is the only one able to support this kind of game as a service and business model.
The development of DUST and CCP’s engagement with Sony has been ongoing since before E3 2011 last year, when we announced our partnership. Over that time, we’ve seen the rise of free to play and microtransaction based games in the Western markets on PC, web and mobile (they’ve been popular in Asia for some time – one of the reasons DUST development is based out of China, an interesting story in itself, for another time) – but consoles have only taken baby steps throughout this generation in this regard, with some patches and DLC and demos, until today.
Just to be totally clear, DUST 514 will be a free to play game, without any cover charge. We debated the cover charge idea for a while, kind of as a hybrid between the old business model (having to purchase a game) and this new one (free to play). As we watched the market evolve, gamers choices in free to play games evolve, our own tastes in free to play evolve and developing what’s needed to support it in collaboration with Sony, this just became the obvious way to go – no cover charge, completely free to play. It’s the right time.
To put it very simply, we think it’s an awesome, amazing opportunity to evolve how console games are made and offered to players, and we believe you’ll agree.
We know you’re eager for more, and we’ll be coming out with tons of info at our annual FanFest convention in Iceland, which starts on March 22. We’ll have first hands-on, while also unveiling details about how we are rolling out DUST 514, videos, interviews (answers to many of your burning questions – we’re watching the comments, reading the forums, listening!), and much more. Sony has hooked up amazing prizes for our DUST 514 tournament at FanFest, we can’t wait to see the battles!
Thanks for coming on this journey with us, it’s one unlike any other, and we’re just getting warmed up. We cannot be more excited for you all to play DUST 514, and being able to make that a reality for free on PS3.
Stay tuned for more very soon!
Just hope it won’t take long to Download & Install then Update then finally get to play. I don’t want to wait Like I did with DC Universe for 8 hrs to play a game I didn’t even like.
wow what a deal that is! i was plannin on gettin this too thanks for saving me some money haha
loooking forward to this
yup im gald its free the 20 bucks i was keeping collecting dust (no pun intended) for this game is now gonan go towards FF13-2 DLC and the new DCUO expansion lol
Sweeeeeet. I was looking forward to this game (when I could afford it). Which I guess is on launch day!
Seriously, though, thank you.
It’s a shame that it’s not going to be on the Vita like first announced. I’m still looking forward to it.
So we will have to buy a subscriptions or something for this. it’s that type of game?
why can’t we just buy the game and that’s it. i don’t mine paying for online passes.
and add ons. but games with subscriptions just seem like you guys are getting a bit greedy.
well they never confirmed it as a full vita game they just said “it will be on vita and we’ll go into details about it later” well now we kn ow what those details are…
besides can you imagine trying to text chat on that small vita screen?
yo Brandon Laurino is this game online only?? can u tell me ASAP
@xXtheicon67Xx
more than likely it will have online.
hopefully if they are doing the subscription thing
i hope they have a lifetime subscription for this game.
cuz i will not keep paying to play a game. like DCUO
is fun but subscription wise putting a whole in my pocket.
why should we get broker while they get richer is all i’m saying.
So where is the PS Vita version they were talking about when they announced the game. The app is stupid, I want the shooter for my Vita. Its kinda like they just gave us the finger, those whom were interested in a Vita version and would have gladly paid for it. C’mon guys bring it to the Vita its only going to be a “pint sized shooter” if thats what you make it. The Vita is capable and willing but you guys need to want to make it so.
@xXtheicon67Xx
oh wait they showed some gameplay.
look it up to youtube.
5
+ FRA1Z3R
“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.”
This is fantastic news. Been tracking on Dust 514 for several months now and to here it will be Free-to-Play is just awesome. Can’t wait for more details in the weeks/months to come. And very happy that FTP means a robust player community. If the game is amazing as we all hope it to be then this will change console gaming FOREVER ;)
Hope the boys from the Blogcast jump all over this in an upcoming episode…hint…hint…
Any news on the Vita Version? Will it be free as well?
This game is now free-to-play?!
Awesome, I’ll be getting all my friends on board.
Thank you so much.
It comes out Tuesday too! Sweet!
Don’t let the free to play paradigm fool you. Eve online is a subscription base game, the caveat is that CCP recognized that players don’t wanna pay with a credit card all the time. They introduced the PLEX system which allows players to purchase game time with in game currency. You could effectively make the amount required to play the game for 30 days and not pay a single cent beyond that.
Dust 514 will be a revolutionary game for the console market. I also believe that the game which currently supports keyboard and mouse will move to the PC once the exclusivity deal with Sony has expired.
I can’t wait, I’m so excited for this title. It’s been a long time coming!
Sounds to good to be true I mean were will you get the profits ? It seems awsome but I just don’t know what to make of it.
they get world of war craft on ps3 lol
There got to be monthly subscription no way Sony gives trophies for free… I am dreaming
69@ Hell yeah they should Blizzard Entertainment thinks to expend Diablo to consoles
Free to play MMOs are a good idea. I hope the idea catches on with more companies.
Look at the flop called Final Fantasy XIV. They had it free for the past year due to the game being so crappy that they couldn’t even get a basic level of subscribers. Then some braniac at SE decided to start charging before the released that was supposed to fix all the problems. Big surprise, they just announced the elimination of 18 servers last week. Should have stuck with free, there’s big bucks to be made with 99 cent addons.
I was more than willing to pay for this game but free is awesome. This game is big like MAG and Iam excited!!! More people to shoot at the better.
Free is good.
1) It’s not coming out this week; “big news” is coming out this week.
2) They’ve said previously that you will need in-game currency (ISK) to purchase armor, weapons, vehicles, etc. Like EVE Online, when your ship blows up, it’s gone. Buy another. I would assume there will be ways to earn ISK without paying real $ for it, but there is always that option too (PLEX). You probably earn ISK from missions, bounties on certain players (NPC’s?), and even from contracts from players in EVE.
3) It doesn’t sound like there is to be any subscription fee. If you can earn enough in-game money to buy your equipment, or join a Corp that provides equipment (possibly funded by EVE players), then you won’t have to pay real money.
The news is coming out this week. Not the game.
Sounds good though.
Free to play is always completely free. But to get the good stuff or a better advantage you can pay a premium. Developers make money that way because you’re paying more than you would a sub. You pay $15 a month, that’s it. You pay for a 30 day premium item, etc etc, each possibly being 5 dollars and you buy many… you see what I’m getting at. Also with new items coming out every month or every few months and even sales from time to time, it’s easy to drop more than sub level cash on a F2P game. That’s not to say you can’t play completely for free though. I’ve played many F2P mmos in my time before I got my PS3.
I might check this game out if I have the space but I highly doubt it. If it’s out on PC though I might give it a glance. Honestly though, FPS are kind of not my go to genre.
as the old saying goes! never look a gift horse in the mouth! lol
OMG YESSS!
I guess a lot of you guys haven’t read the other interview about this announcement. They stated multiple times that the microtransactions won’t give anyone an unfair advantage. It’s basically you paying for in game money, but that won’t do you anything if you haven’t been leveling your character. He says that here from the interview with Eurogamer:
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-03-01-ps3-mmo-dust-514-will-now-be-free-to-download-and-play
“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.”
So stop crying babies. You can just work at it and get everything for free.
That is correct, even though there will be premium items in game, it is by no means necessary for players to have in order to win.