Secret World re-launching as free-to-play Secret World Legends
After nearly five years, MMO converts business model, overhauls combat, progression, and graphics
Yet another subscription-based MMO is finishing the transition to free-to-play, albeit quite a while after such a move might have been expected. Funcom today announced that it is re-launching The Secret World this spring as Secret World Legends, a free-to-play re-thinking of the original title with overhauled combat, progression systems, and graphics.
"One of our biggest goals in relaunching the game has been to reimagine the core gameplay experience in a way befitting a modern-day action RPG," said the revamp's executive producer, Scott Junior. "Secret World Legends features combat that feels more natural, deep systems that are more intuitive, better structuring of the early game for new players, and improved mission flow to strengthen the pace of progression for players."
The Secret World launched as a subscription-based MMO in July of 2012 to disappointing sales, and Funcom was publicly mused about making it free-to-play just two months later. By year's end, the company dropped the subscription requirement and moved to a model where players would pay for the base game and whichever expansions they wanted.