Japanese publisher Tecmo Koei is set to experiment with free-to-play elements on console, as its upcoming Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate fighter will be available both as a full retail game, and a free download.
According to details at Famitsu, and as translated by a NeoGAF user, Japanese PlayStation 3 users will be able to download Dead or Alive 5 Ultimate free-of-charge, and play through the game's online mode with four playable characters.
Accessing the single-player story mode and additional characters costs money -- 1500 yen ($15) for the story mode, and 400 yen ($4) for each character -- and Tecmo Koei will occasionally make certain characters available for a short time to entice players to try out new characters and consider buying them.
However, there will be no limitations on how many matches you can play with the base free version of the game, and free players will be able to play against paying players on any stage.
The Famitsu report does not state whether this free-to-play version will be made available in the U.S. as well.
Seems like a smart, logical, transparent, and fair way to deliver their product. I'm a bit surprised this approach is not already widespread. Even a game like Star Wars: TOR could have been released successfully under such a model, but you can't switch from a subscription to this, because by the time you switch your players have already seen all of your cool content.
I'm interested to see how we'll this works. I feel that consoles are a very touchy subject at the moment. A great uncertainty hovers over the next gen.
Sometimes I really dislike the direction this industry is headed... this doesn't bother me if they will always release a full version along with their crummy "free" versions... but this is just a test to replace full versions in the future. Subscription gaming! Go away.
