Rift confronts the inevitable, goes free-to-play

Trion Worlds has confirmed plans to ditch subscription fees for MMO title Rift.

The game, which was launched in early 2011, will become free-to-play as of June 12th and will not lock content away from non-paying players.

Our free-to-play model is built on a simple idea: everyone can download, log in, and play all of Rift, free,” a statement read. New players will have access to all game content – from dungeons and Warfronts to the latest raids – with no level restrictions.

Rift will not become ‘pay-to-win’ with this change. The best items in the game will always have to be earned in Telara!

Players prefer free games! Trion has always been progressive with the way we’ve let people access Rift, offering trials and referral offers since shortly after launch, Return to Telara events where we invited players to come back for free to see what they missed, partnerships with companies like Raptr, iGames, and others.

Over the last two years, we’ve seen the online gaming market evolve and expand, with millions of new players in North America and Europe embracing free-to-play games. This is just the latest evolution of Rift that will allow us to bring even more players into the world of Telara.”

As is the way in these transitions, paying subscribers will have an assortment of benefits laid upon them. These ‘Patrons’ will get extra currency, increased mount speed and XP boosts amongst other things.