Pirates of the Burning Sea free-to-play
Yarr might as well try it.
Swashbuckling MMO Pirates of the Burning Sea is now free to play.
There's no upfront cost and no monthly subscription - the only time money changes hands is if you want to splash out on Treasure Aisle items. That's the in-game shop, and there you can buy account upgrades, clothing, consumables, missions, pets and ships. There's a long explanation of the Treasure Aisle and what's on offer there on the POTBC website.
You can still subscribe to Pirates of the Burning Sea: the Captain's Club charges $14.99 a month and offers many perks and discounts over the Free Account and Premium Account membership levels. Those three tiers of membership are explained on the game's website.
Pirates of the Burning Sea has been sailing on the market-seas now for a year and, as with all MMOs, much has changed - most significantly, the Power & Prestige expansion, released September 2010. But plenty of incidental updates and tweaks have also been made along the way.
You can consume the entire barrel of patch-notes like a scurvy dog on the Pirates of the Burning Sea website.
Eurogamer last clambered aboard the Pirates of the Burning Sea ship in January 2010. Very good, we roared, clapping its broad back with a hearty 7/10. It appears we may have to dig out our sea-faring duds once more, given the raft of improvements and business model change since.
You may as well try it.