Raiders of the Broken Planet is the newest game from MercurySteam and launches on September 22nd for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. The Spanish studio, best known for Castlevania: Lords of Shadow and the upcoming Metroid: Samus Returns, is shunning vampires or aliens for something way different: an asymmetrical online shooter with a ‘freemium’ price model.
The base game, the prologue, is completely free to download, and will include two missions across four stages, different characters to play with and access to both single player and online multiplayer modes. However, you’ll also be able to get more content for £9.99/€9.99/$9.99, which includes the separate Alien Myths campaign, more characters, missions, and a standalone story. Further campaigns will then be developed and released using feedback from the community.
Setting it apart is the 4 v 1 to these campaign missions. Players have the option to effectively invade a co-op session and cause havoc. MercurySteam aren’t coy about this interesting feature, the “Antagonist” being there simply to “troll” his opponents.
Source: Press Release
18/08 18:25 – Updated to clear up confusion around free-to-play and paid content. The business model is “freemium” with a free slice of game to start that’s available to all, with further content bought by those who want it.
MrYd
It doesn’t sound like it’s free-to-play though, does it? The free bit is the “prologue”, and then £9.99 for the next part (the first “campaign”)
So more of an episodic release, with the first episode being free.
At least that what they seem to say on their website…
http://www.raidersofthebrokenplanet.com/news/raidersreport-005-huge-news
I’m sure there’s a reason you just put “Source: Press Release” instead of a link to it though. Presumably “busy” and “actually have a life” ;)
Stefan L
Occam’s razor would suggest it’s because we got a press release and are using that as our source… which is actually what happened.
I’ll clean up the price confusion now, though.
MrYd
That’s fair enough. I just have a thing about not having the most helpful source. Which is my problem, not yours.
At least you don’t (often) link to a source that’s reporting on some other website reporting on yet another website quoting some mystery source.
Or do what the BBC do and generally not bother at all, presumably because “we’re the BBC, what other source do you want?”
The Lone Steven
Then why not release it as a fucking £10 game? Sorry for the F word but come on! It sounds like the damn thing is bare bones and if you want the real meat of it, that’s £10. If this infects the rest of gaming(like Microtransaction BS and loot cases), feck gaming! Call me Cynical but Microstransactions originated from Free to play and mobile gaming and now is the standard. Loot boxes are starting to become the standard. What was wrong with having the full game and not being pestered to buy stuff with real cash?
MrYd
Or it could be they’re doing a good thing and giving you the first part for free as a trial?
Then you pay for the other episodes.
Like some of the other episodic games have done, except they usually like to make the first episode free later on, not on release. In one case, after being on PS+
I don’t see any problem with doing it that way. Especially if they’re not calling it F2P.
The Lone Steven
That could be true but it just comes off as having little to nothing if you don’t want to pay the price and if it’s an epsidoic release, why not just to the first episode free(all the meat) and then have £10 per episode.
MrYd
Isn’t that what they’re doing? Giving you the first episode (the prologue) for free? No idea how much content that is yet though.
But does it really matter? You’re either getting a whole episode of game for free, or a demo if it’s short on content.
Doesn’t sound worthy of your little rant just yet (and I like a rant as much as anyone). Unless it’s got loot boxes. Which are just a terrible idea. Always.