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Champions Online: Free For All goes live

Atari wants £10.34 a month for full access.

Atari's Champions Online MMO relaunches as free-to-play today, the publisher has announced.

The basic game is now available free of charge, but you'll have to open your wallets if you want to try out special Adventure Packs or pick up new items, costumes and power-ups from the in-game C-Store.

Existing players can continue subscribing as Gold Members, while newcomers have the option to upgrade to Gold Status for £10.34 a month. That will give you access to "most" of the game's content as well as "extra features", explained Atari.

Developed by Cryptic Studios, the superhero MMO initially launched as a subscription title back in 2009. Eurogamer's Oli Welsh awarded it 6/10, complaining, "It's a mess, frankly. But it is a likeable one."

Champions Online is the latest in a long line of MMOs to jump on the free-to-play bandwagon. EverQuest II, Dungeons & Dragons Online and Lord of the Rings Online all recently announced they were making the jump, while Cryptic has been hinting that Star Trek Online may soon follow Champions' lead.

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