Dust 514 skips retail and goes free-to-play

CCP’s upcoming PS3 MMO Dust 514 will now be free to download and play, the developer has revealed.

Speaking to Eurogamer, the studio’s executive producer Brandon Laurino said it would now be scrapping the cover charge for the game in an effort to avoid confusion on whether it was free-to-play.

The developer had previously stated it would charge an up-front fee for the title, which would then be converted into in-game credits.

The move means the title is unlikely to go to retail, and will instead be available for download on PSN only.

"It was a relatively confusing proposition and we wanted to make it unambiguous that this is a free-to-play game,” said Laurino.

"It’s very important as we take steps into this topic to unambiguously state that it is not a pay to win game. There is no micro-transaction that you can do that gives you an unfair advantage over someone who hasn’t paid anything.

“It’s the classic micro-transaction dynamic of, ‘I can pay and get this item,’ or, ‘I can invest my time and get this item.’ But neither of those options will give me an unfair advantage over the other."

Dust 514 is currently slated for release in the summer, and will run in the same game world as CCP’s PC MMO Eve Online, with each game affecting what happens in the other.