Wildstar might be going free to play in August

Just as predicted

Look, I’m going to try and not be smug about this… but I was right.

A few weeks ago, Wildstar was pulled from the shelves in Australia, leading to speculation it might be going free to play or Guild Wars­-style buy to play (which, for the record, is a ridiculous phrase and we need to come up with another one for describing that sort of model.)

Well guess what just showed up in the Steam database? Wildstar. The billing type is listed as “Free on Demand”, which is the same type as other free-to-play games such as Warframe.

The license type is listed as “Single Purchase”, leading some to assume that means it’s going buy-to-play. However, Warframe, a totally free-to-play game, is also listed as “single purchase”. What leads me to believe it more is the fact there won’t be a multi-purchase pack such as a four-pack.

This is all backed up by a post on /r/Wildstar by someone who has given evidence that they are a Carbine employee. They claim that Wildstar will be adopting a “hybridized free-to-play model”; there will be microtransactions for quicker experience gain, however they stressed it wouldn’t be going pay-to-win.

If this person is telling the truth, we should be hearing more about this soon, as they’ve said the game will be going free to play in August.

Who was right? I was right. Bow down before me, puny mortals.