Console version of Tribes: Ascend unlikely

Free-to-play FPS Tribes: Ascend has been making big waves on PC, but the chances of it coming to console no appear very slim.

And as you might expect, it’s the sticky issue of free-to-play gaming that has put up all the barriers.

"We do not have any plans forTribeson console at this time," COO of Tribes developer Hi-Rez Todd Harris told Gamasutra.

"The way it went is that we wanted to do the free-to-play model, and there wasn’t a clear path to that on consoles early on. Based on that, we optimized the game around the strengths of the PC, and specifically a keyboard and mouse control.

"We’re still interested in free-to-play on consoles, but at this point, we have nothing specific toTribeson console. I do expect the consoles will see more and more free-to-play, certainly the new generation, and possibly the existing generation as well."

Not that the game’s PC-only status has stopped it being a success – indeed, its strong critical reception has seen the press tout it as somewhat of a new dawn in F2P gaming.

The launch went well,” Harris added. "At this point we have over 800,000 registered accounts. Servers are very, very active."