Codemasters Online Gaming has recently announced that their MMORPG ArchLord will be going Free To Play starting on January 4 2007.



According to COG: "ArchLord will continue to be fully supported, including the second fantastic update Episode II: Season of Siege." Archlord follows the guild wars formula by allowing players access to all in-game content just by buying the retail box. Current users of Archlord will be updated via email of the changes and how it will affect their existing accounts. New players will also receive a bonus gift from COG in the form of 3000 in-game credits.

Having been part of the Archlord beta test, i must say that i wasn't exactly overwhelmed with what i saw in Archlord. IMHO, while the graphics i saw were a bit prettier than most other games in the genre: the inherent grinding, lack of polish and the need to pay a fee to play just wasn't that attractive. This move smacks of desperation on COG's part to expand its player base and to survive in the cutthroat world of MMOG's, but is a boon to players who wanted to try Archlord by were turned off by its pricing scheme.

So, any takers?

[ source image and article from http://archlordgame.com ]