Do you remember The Tomorrow Children? Yeah, we barely do either – we played the alpha eons ago, but then it never seemed to want to come out. Fortunately, the soviet-inspired sim appears to be right around the corner, as it will begin its complicated rollout from 6th September. However, that's not the end of the story: the game will be going free-to-play in the future.
So, what does that mean for people who buy in right away? Well, the Founders Pack which will launch on the aforementioned date will effectively secure you early access for $19.99, and you'll get a host of goodies to boot. We've included the full list of contents below, but one interesting feature is that you'll be able to invite five friends to play the free version right away.
There will be microtransactions in the form of Freeman Dollars, which will allow you to purchase goods from the in-game Black Market – but you'll get a portion of these as part of the Founders Pack. Once the free-to-play version deploys officially, the Frontier Bundle will replace it, which will include a different set of to be announced content. Are you keeping up?
So a change of business model for this game, then, but the same resource collecting gameplay loop appears to be very much intact. Are you still looking forward to this one, or has your interest waned over the years? Bat aside a great big dinosaur in the comments section, and then go digging for gold.
Founders Pack Contents
- Bourgeoisie papers — This is your first step to becoming a resident of The Void. By earning the "rezidenty" status, player's will have the privilege to participate in creating structures and items to build your town, access to new tools, and the ability to build your very own house within the town. Also includes five F2P invitations to send to friends.
- Lv1 Arms License — Unlocks access to higher-tier weapons at the weapons dealer in town (purchase items with in-game currency earned by completing various labor tasks).
- Lv1 Tools License — Unlocks access to higher tier tools at the tool dealer in town (purchase items with in-game currency earned by completing various labor tasks).
- Eagle Corp. Jetpack — This high-end Black Market paid item will take you to new heights, allowing you to reach otherwise inaccessible areas on tops of "islands" to mine resources and find hidden items.
- Special costume — "Miner Gear" costume to customize your in-game "projection clone" character.
- Exclusive PSN avatar pack — This is a pack containing three exclusive PSN avatars limited to the Founders Pack.
- 1000 Freeman Dollars — Currency that can be used at the black market to purchase a variety of high-powered weapons, tools, and more, and can also be used as bribes to government officials for quick personal benefit. (This is separate from the in-game credits collected from the town's City Hall after completing various labor tasks, which are used at the normal vendors in town.)
- Bourgeoisie Paper holders will also receive five invitations to send to their friends, granting them access to the F2P game client before full public release. Invited comrades can enjoy the F2P game for free, and upgrade their experience with the Founders Pack if they choose.
[source blog.us.playstation.com]
Comments (14)
What a clusterf***.
Mind blown, but not in the usual good way.... I'll pass.
A little disappointed here. I was all set to pay real money for this.
Btw, hey everybody, I'm new here.
Really enjoyed the Beta for this game but dissapointed its going free to play. Its a strange decision would have easily payed full price for this game.
@DiddyWahDiddy Disappointed that you DONT have to pay? Its the same game.
This is very strange though.
@DiddyWahDiddy Hey, welcome!
@3Above But now it includes microtransactions, which means the game will be way more grind-y to convince people to buy dollars. You know how this story goes.
Bad move, by the way. Was legitimately looking forward to this game as a full experience and experiment. But it feels making it free to play, including all these transactions, diminishes the concept.
@Kidfried Exactly.
@Kidfried The game was very grindy to begin with in the beta. I think it's buzz went ages ago, probably moved F2P to get some people in.
Also I don't think the business model has changed, as far as I'm aware no one said it was going to be payed game beforehand. At the end of the day Sony need to make something back, hence why they are trying to attract many with F2P on very niche games. Dreams will probably be one too.
@Kidfried Like @adf86 said it was that type of game from the betas. But yes now there will clearly be a pay wall that judging by the open beta we will hit after about 3 days of extended play.
Im guessing that after the open beta they realized how many people were still interested in the game and decided that they wouldnt make enough from sales without micotransactions. Its a shame really.
@DiddyWahDiddy Belated Welcome!
this is like No Man's Sky without the hype
The beta didn't really interest me. The No Man's Sky comparisons are fair, except you take a train to new islands instead of a starship to new planets. I did feel like actual work, although I think oppressiveness was part of the intentional game design. It's a shame that most of the items in the founders pack can be acquired within the first couple of hours of normal play. I will pass based on micro transactions.
I tried the beta and like the idea of it, but it was a bit confusing for my tired and unreceptive brain. I'll probably just wait for it to go F2P now.
The beta was very badly promoted so it was not surpising that they did not get many people playing it. Free to play games hold very little value for me. I would much rarher pay for a game and enjoy it rather than pay crazy prices for items/currency when i do play the game. As soon as a game has the f2p tag I tend to avoid it.
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