Why DC Universe is going free-to-play

By Fred Dutton Published 21 September, 2011

Plus, SOE talks future plans for its MMO.

DC Universe Online is going free-to-play to "open up" the game to a wider audience, according to the game's executive producer Lorin Jameson.

Speaking to Eurogamer earlier today, Jameson explained that the move, announced earlier this week, is also a reaction to player feedback demanding different ways to play the game.

"We have a game that's resonating with our player base," he said. "Especially on the PS3, we've been getting a lot of people into the game to try it out. Our customers have been saying they wanted more options for how to play the game.

"The subscription model is relatively new on the PS3 and we've already had success with our other free-to-play titles, like Clone War Adventures and Free Realms, so we thought this was a good time to introduce some alternate models to allow as many people as possible to play the game."

He denied suggestions that the shift to F2P was a result of lower than anticipated subscription numbers.

"No, I think we've been doing really quite well. We sold a lot of copies, we've had a lot of people paying and playing the game. This was just a way to open up to even more folks."

Jameson wouldn't offer up any figures, but insisted the game is in good health.

"We recently had our mega server launch which allowed us to basically get all the power of all the players into platform specific and region specific servers. That really goosed our numbers a good amount.

"And then the release of our first mini expansion DLC, Fight For the Light, gave us a bump as well. So actually we've been looking really good. This has been a challenging year with the [PSN] outage but we've recovered quite well since then."

There's plenty of new content coming down the pipe, with update 5 first out the door before a second DLC expansion arrives before the year's end.

"We've got game update 5 coming up," he said. "We haven't set a date, we're still in the QA and approval process.

"That adds the second part of the Fortress of Solitude raid. We introduced the first part about four weeks ago in update four. That raid continues on - you go deeper into the fortress, you join forces with Zod and Superman in a sort of 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend' moment.

"We also have DLC 2 coming up. I can only say at this point it's exciting. We're focusing on The Flash for this DLC and it will be out before the end of the year."

Picture of Fred.

About Fred Dutton

Fred Dutton is Eurogamer's US news editor, based in Washington DC.

Read more articles from Fred by visiting the Fred Dutton archive page.

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Comments (21) Latest comment 8 months ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • INSOMANiAC #1 8 months ago

    Because no fucker wants to pay silly money to play a below average mmorpg. Cheery pip.

  • AnsemsApprentice #2 8 months ago

    I'm glad it's going F2P :). It's about time I got Nightrunner back out onto Gotham's streets to kick some ass. Flying around Metropolis is a wonderful thing, too. The music and everything . . . 'tis quite beautiful.

  • BraveArse #3 8 months ago

    @2 agreed - Personally think it's a step forward for MMOs spoiled only by a bunch of WoW snobs stood around sneering at other peoples gear, hopefully they've all fucked off to rift and the socially competent people out there can get on with having fun.

  • Macross #4 8 months ago

    really enjoyed this game, only let down by lack of things to do and variety. Best combat and customisation in any MMO ive played though.

  • el_pollo_diablo #5 8 months ago

    Each time this happens it just makes me think how actually incredible and unstoppable the entire Warcraft phenomenon is. It's in a class of it's own and has been now for, what, 5 years?

  • CaptainQuint #6 8 months ago

    I have a PS3. Does this game handle anything like Crackdown?

  • gm914 #7 8 months ago

    LOL I've been checking on some forums trying to get some more info on the gameplay/customization etc: There's quite a few butthurt fanboys crying because of all the n00bs that'll be coming in.
    Not for a second thinking that if DCUO subscription numbers kept dropping like they have been and SOE wanted to keep trudging along with p2p, the subscription rate would've either gone up to $30/month, or the whole thing would've been canned.

    So if you're on of those butthurt-elite fanboys, be happy that you're going to have lots of n00bs to crush, while the money made from all their n00b micro-transactions are going towards more free DLC for you!

    tl;dr Just STFU. We're coming.

  • George-Roper #8 8 months ago

    YAAAAAWWWWWNN!

  • metallicorphan #9 8 months ago

    i was in the beta,i thought it was alright but the subscription fees did put me off,so i will certainly be giving this another go

    as for if its like Crackdown,hmm,maybe a little I guess it depends on what superhero powers you choose to have,i was a flier and it was pretty cool flying about Metropolis with the music as well when you were up in the sky...actually,that thought has made me look forward to this a little bit more now :)

  • AnsemsApprentice #10 8 months ago

    I think it handles very similarly to Crackdown come to think of it, although it's not as smooth (depending on what you pick). If you choose flight instead of acrobatics or super-speed . . . not so much. Acrobatics is where it's at for a nice flight/agility hybrid.

  • Evil-Ryu #11 8 months ago

    Does anyone know when its going to be free, the date. Do you have to still buy a copy of the game or will it be free to download?

    I don't mind paying for a copy, it was always the monthly subscription that put me off ever buying this game. Now theres an option of having no subscription, I'd like to try it.

  • Mayernator87 #12 8 months ago

    I recently cancelled my subscription as there just weren't enough people playing. I couldn't defeat certain bosses on my own and I found the areas to be very empty. Hopefully THIS will entice people into actually joining up, especially me again.

  • SlackMaster #13 8 months ago

    Yay, time to get Synergy back out for some laser blasting...

  • Vanmunt #14 8 months ago

    Can anybody confirm if voice chat is working..

  • metallicorphan #15 8 months ago

    Evil-Ryu:

    I believe its going to be a free download as well,they said 'Both PlayStation 3 and PC players will be able to download and play the game for free'

    http://uk.ps3.ign.com/articles/119/11951...

  • ZizouFC #16 8 months ago

    Excited about this! Even put the game in yesterday just to check that is isn't free-to-play already ;)

  • Mr_interesting_2011 #17 8 months ago

    Really looking forward to this too....

    Was great fun, only thing that let it down was the lack of people and the voice chat issues. Going F2P should fix the population issue. Anyone know if the voice chat has been fixed as it was still broken when I played a while back.

  • Razzajazz #18 8 months ago

    @Mr_interesting_2011

    Voice chat's a lot better, and they've got proximity chat in there now as well which helps a lot. I think I'm the only remaining member of the Eurogamer League, so might have to fire it up again! :)

  • uknortherner2000 #19 8 months ago

    What's the character customisation like? Is it similar to Champions Online, or more restrictive?

  • Whatascoop #20 8 months ago

    Oh the Metropolis general hospital and Science Police HQ are going to be bloodbaths when this goes free on the PVP server...

  • hobojebus #21 8 months ago

    Yeah i heard it sucked balls, apparently despite being overseen by DC it had no real relation to the DC universe.

    Going from a subscription based system to free to play is a great big sign of failure.