Dust 514 goes free-to-play, Vita version a 'companion app'
Dust 514, the upcoming PSN exclusive MMOFPS connected both figuratively and literally to the EVE Online universe, will launch with a $0.00 price tag, according to Eurogamer. Originally, the game was to launch at $20.00, and the player would be pseudo-reimbursed with $20.00 worth of in-game currency. "We wanted to make it unambiguously that this is a free-to-play game," CCP's Brandon Laurino told Eurogamer. "We probably will still have some kind of pack like that."
The game will still be supported through microtransactions, as was always the plan, although Laurino remains adamant that Dust 514 is "not a pay to win game," and that nothing available for purchase will provide an unfair advantage.
Dust 514's Vita iteration won't be exactly the same as the newly free-to-play PS3 version. Laurino told Eurogamer that the Vita game will be a "companion app," with functionality including character customization, shopping, and setting up "strategies" with other players, all interfacing with the PS3 game.
The Vita may get other exciting functions like "playing a video game" later, as the app will be progressively upgraded. "As we continue to explore what the possibilities are, between Vita and PS3, of which there are many, we'll keep updating the app with stuff like that over time," Laurino said. As for a launch simultaneous with the PS3 game, "We haven't decided that yet."
