Following last year's experiment to run a concurrent
freemium service, Sony Online Entertainment's fantasy-themed MMORPG
EverQuest II is switching to an entirely free-to-play model.
The switch will occur in early December, according to the company, to coincide with its latest expansion pack,
Age of Discovery.
The game, which recently celebrated its seven-year anniversary, will no longer require an upfront fee to download and play.
Memberships will now be split into
three classes:
a Free class that offers basic functionality with some limitations, a
Silver class that removes many restrictions, and a subscription-based
Gold service that offers several premium-tier options for ease of play.
The move follows a
previous attempt to experiment with making
EverQuest II free-to-play. A "parallel" free-to-play version of the game called
EverQuest II Extended has operated since last year, separate from the traditional subscription-based service.
The December upgrade will merge all existing services into one free-to-play model.