Champions Online goes free to play January 25
Cryptic Studios has announced a final release date for the free-to-play version of Champions Online: January 25th, 2011.
The new version will offer unlimited play, and open up most content with the exception of premium adventure packs for free. Other items, powers, and costume pieces will be placed in the store, and a premium subscription will still be available as an option for players who want to unlock all premium content instead of purchasing it individually in the store.
Cryptic Studios also publishes Star Trek Online.
Champions Online Gameplay Screenshot
Source:
Champions Online: Free For All has an official release date: January 25, 2011! Read on more more details.
ATARI AND CRYPTIC STUDIOS ANNOUNCE CHAMPIONS ONLINE™: FREE FOR ALL LAUNCH DATE
Free-to-Play Superhero MMO Available January 25, 2011
(Los Angeles, CA) January 11, 2011 – Atari Inc., one of the world’s most recognized videogame publishers, and renowned MMO developer Cryptic Studios, have announced today that the Free-to-Play update to the superhero MMORPG Champions Online™ will be available worldwide on Tuesday, January 25, 2011.
Champions Online: Free For All also features additional premium content for purchase. Adventure Packs, items, powers and costume pieces can be selected a la carte inside Cryptic’s innovative C-Store. Additionally, current players may continue subscribing as Gold Members, while new players may also optionally upgrade to Gold status, which unlocks most of the game’s content and includes extra features for a set price of $14.99 per month.
“It’s a genuine pleasure to be able to announce our release date for Champions Online: Free for All,” said John Needham, CEO, Cryptic Studios. “On January 25, 2011, any gamer or would-be superhero can play within the ever-improving world of Champions Online for no cost.”
Champions Online has been lauded since its launch for the nearly limitless options it gives players. The completely free to play Free For All update offers even more:
- Play Everything – With the exception of special Adventure Packs, all the content in Champions Online: Free For All is available to every player. Once a player enters a location within the MMO game world, nothing is off-limits!
- Unlimited Play Time – Play as much as you like, as long as you like, at absolutely no cost. No subscription or credit card required.
- Your Own Hero, Your Own Story – Become a hero, encounter his or her Nemesis, and advance to maximum level at no cost.
- Play Your Way – Utilize the optional web-based and in-game C-Store to purchase gameplay upgrades or additional premium content.
Champions Online brings epic heroism to the MMORPG genre with depth that challenges the most experienced online gamers, while its fast-paced action engages new entrants to the online superhero universe. Join with Defender and the legendary Champions to stop Dr. Destroyer and his minions in the ultimate showdown between good and evil.
To learn more about Champions Online: Free for All, please visit: http://www.champions-online.com/f2p.
January 11, 2011
#
BOut time, this game is a definate yes for me to play, can’t wait!!!!
January 11, 2011
#1
Of course what they’re not telling you is that the premium stuff hits around one third of the game so it’s really no better than a trial/demo.
January 11, 2011
#2
Lets hope they will let people to play for free without very big minuses…
This is a most definite game to play for me
January 11, 2011
#3
Free to play means you can’t make your own Hybrid class and you can only select pre made ones for you, you only have a select amount of character customization items and if I am not mistaken you do not get travel powers such as Fly and Leap, you are also not allowed to enter certain areas and you cannot post in forums or join guilds.
January 11, 2011
#4
WTF no travel powers?!
The advanture packs are already a big minus, but the travel powers?
January 11, 2011
#5
They are saying that it is free to play but if you actually want to have fun with the game you have pay.
January 11, 2011
#6
I sometime hates when a p2p go f2p because the developer are still greedy and start putting a restriction on stuff
January 11, 2011
#7
well what do u want beast attack them to make no money? All I see here is you being greedy for the stuff they worked hard on to make.
January 11, 2011
#8
Is not realy free to play, i have tryied other “ftp” games that where ptp but some of the most fun things to do or be is PTP,wich makes you wana buy what ever every one else have.
January 11, 2011
#9
@Xhepher
u can get fly. leap.. and another travel powers, im in the beta F2P : X
i can say its excellent: )
January 11, 2011
#10
WOOT!! i have been playing this for the last 2 days! when it showed “you must subscribe to advance” i just closed that, relogged and kept blasting aliens! i would reccomend this game to ANYONE!! cant wait to fly, its gonna be SWEET!!!
January 11, 2011
#11
http://www.champions-online.com/f2p_matrix
January 12, 2011
#12
Hmm first I was happy that this game goes free-to-play. It’s the first free-to-play hero mmorpg then. But then I saw Xepher’s comment about the restrictions. That sucks big time. I mean: the uniqueness of classes in such a games is just gone… Those just look very appealing to me because they have such a uniqueness. Also the superhero aspects are gone…. (flying and such). Now it’s just a lame mmorpg with a bit of a special setting, that’s all.
If that are really the restrictions, I definitely won’t try out the game.
If they just made this game really free-to-play (and become the first free superhero mmorpg) and add a cash-shop system like Lord of the rings online, it would be a very good game with massive profits for the studio. (with Lord of the rings online system I mean: make a cash-shop, but being able to get those cash-shop credits by doing achievements or challenges) .
January 12, 2011
#13
hmm xepher is right but it still can change since there is a ? at a few features, so i guess if alot of players ask for it it wil lbecome F2P
January 12, 2011
#14
fail
January 12, 2011
#15
Finally it does.
I’m so angry on people who keep us guessing…
January 12, 2011
#16
I agree, how dare they spend time and resources to make a great game and now they want to share with us all for free and still think they deserve to make money with it? Why they need money after all, you can live without money!
Let me see, they make a game you can play for free, enjoy the time, analise the factors, and pay only when you decide to? How evil is that!
What, a game where everybody is welcome to try it out without the obligation to pay? How absurd!
Oh my gosh, this is terrible, I mean, you make a game where you play for free? This is simply unacceptable, everything should be paid. And why pay only once, you should pay every month even when you are not having fun, just to have your account activated at all time. But nooooo, they allow us to choose if we want to pay, and even when and how much. Worst of all, if you don’t want to pay, you can still play, can you imagine how it is bad? I can!
No it’s not all, now that the game is free to play, more people is going to play, what means larger playerbase and more income for the developers. That means the vast majority of people aren’t realising how free to play is bad, because more and more games are becoming free to play, while a bunch of other free to play titles are in development. This is horrible, I can’t afford to play a game without spending money. But wait, I have the freedom of choice to pay for exclusive content? I don’t care I want to be forced to pay and if I don’t have the means to pay, I shouldn’t be allowed to play at all. That sounds better to me!
January 12, 2011
#17
the game isnt going completely free because the people behind it rely on it as a paycheck. most of the game will be free with a cash shop sporting the adventure packs it has now, and a few new ones. i think thy said that all of the main storylines and side quests will be free to pay. the cash shop is nice, as it keeps them going and the servers up, but the only thing i think you will actually want to buy is the travel skill, which shouldnt be that expensive. maybe $5 or even less
January 12, 2011
#18
and stop complaining. if you dont have any money for games, take this as a blessing and either play it or leave it. im getting really tired of people complaining about games that have a premium shop. you cant expect it completely free because they still need a paycheck or else the servers WILL shut down, and then what will you play?
January 12, 2011
#19
If Cryptic follows what Turbine has done with LOTRO then Champions Online could be a major success. Turbine has been unlocking more and more content for us freeloaders in addition to doling out Turbine points upon, well, sometimes just saying hello to some random dude. I didn’t care for Champions Online when it first came out but when it goes F2P I will give it another chance. Oh, and FunCom? Age of Conan can use a bit of help.
January 12, 2011
#20
Guys I played 1 month ( bought 3 month of sub) I got bored to death after reaching highest level on my shadow/sorcerer dude.. I was doin’ so-called instances but they got so boring after awhile… Now the game sucks and i will never ever play again with these restrictions and i wont pay either, lol Waiting for DC universe instead.
January 12, 2011
#21
some restrictions lime like 90 percent of the game the factor that u have to select pre-made characters while gold ones can use the games editor…..sucks
January 12, 2011
#22
OMG this game Free to Play? i Cant wait!!
January 12, 2011
#23
If Cryptic follows what Turbine has done with LOTRO then Champions Online could be a major success. Turbine has been unlocking more and more content for us freeloaders in addition to doling out Turbine points upon, well, sometimes just saying hello to some random dude. I didn’t care for Champions Online when it first came out but when it goes F2P I will give it another chance. Oh, and FunCom? Age of Conan can use a bit of help.
January 13, 2011
#24
http://forums.champions-online.com/showthread.php?t=118108
What are the Special Travel Powers that Gold Members get access to?
Poz: The Special Travel powers aren’t new to any subscriber, because they already exist. Remember that all “Special” items are included in the Gold Membership. Currently, we plan these travel powers to be Special:
Fire Flight
Ice Slide
Swinging
Tunneling
Jet Boots
Rocket Jump
Hover Disk
Earth Flight
January 15, 2011
#25
and this is how we will remember City of Heroes/Villians… Distroyed on January 25 by Champions. lol
January 16, 2011
#26
Glad to see it going f2p, but…seriously? There are limits on travel powers? That’s incredibly retarded.
January 17, 2011
#27
can you fight palyer vs player on this game? like gunz style?
January 18, 2011
#28
This game will NEVER succeed, even as f2p. They butchered the game with the nerf nuke in the first month of its existence. There was (and from what I understand, still is) a big level gap as far as content goes and things are still broken from launch.
Here’s one of my personal experiences, short and sweet: One day I had a good character that could hold its own against two henchmen and a villain. Literally the next day, I get massacred by a group of two henchmen of the same mob as what I could kill the previous day.
I’ll also add their method of fixing stuff is to nerf things down to level them out instead of buffing up what’s weak. Every patch was a nerf fest. Increased cooldowns, reduced effectiveness, etc, etc with very, VERY few buffs. Some powers were completely pointless to take as they did nothing compared to a similar move which was very OP.
January 22, 2011
#29
i have 1 question…..can i play with noraml gamepad or i must hace xbox gamepad?