WildStar Going Free-To-Play This Fall

WildStar, the colorful, action-oriented MMORPG by Carbine Studios, will be dropping its subscription model and will be going free-to-play this fall. Mike Donatelli, product director for Carbine Studios, believes that "removing the subscription cost will give everyone who loves MMOs… a chance to try WildStar."

The transition to free-to-play will raise allow all players [Edit: Correction] to reach the level cap to 50 and unlock access to all Amps, abilities, dungeons, raids, adventures, shiphands, and PvP (so pretty much everything). Specifically, items stats and character stats will be easier to understand, and players won't need to find items to unlock certain Amps in the skill tree anymore. Several new tutorials and early dungeons will provide a much needed introduction and softer learning curve to WildStar's multiplayer content.

Instead of a required subscription, players can choose an optional Signature monthly membership that will give boosts to XP, crafting, currency, reputation, and item drops, as well as additional items for their characters, customes, banks, and housing. The new in-game store will use NCoin for players to purchase cosmetic items, but Carbine Studios will ensure that any of these items can be earned through play time, and that none of these items will be pay-to-win. Regardless of whether players opt into the membership or not, Carbine Studios will continue to update WildStar with new content and story additions.

Of course, Carbine Studios doesn't want to slight people who have been paying the current subscription. Those who have supported WildStar from the beginning will be granted awesome legacy Player Appreciation items, including an exclusive Ikthian Crawler mount, an exclusive DJ Caretaker housing item, a Disco Snoglug companion pet, four months of Signature service, and two new titles ("Living Legend" and "Nexus Loyalist"). Those who have supported WildStar but not since launch, so long as they have a subscription from June 15, 2015 through to this free-to-play transition, will still get all of the rewards apart from the mount and the "Living Legend" title.

More details on the loyalty program will be unveiled by Carbine Studios soon. To learn more about this transition, you can tune into WildStar's official Twitch for a livestream of the announcement on Friday, May 29, at 10:00am PDT.