‘Fable Legends’ Goes With ‘League Of Legends’ F2P Model For Xbox One And PC
Lionhead Studios announced Thursday that it is going the free-to-play route with Fable Legends for the Xbox One and Windows 10 PCs. The four-versus-one adventure title is using the same model popularized by titles like League of Legends and Dota 2 to get players hooked, but not giving an advantage to those that plop down cash on micro-transactions.
Fable Legends will require an Xbox LIVE Gold subscription to play on the Xbox One, but no such restriction exists on Windows 10 PCs. Lionhead Studios states that the entirety of the game can be played “from beginning-to-end without spending a penny.” The developer plans to release new episodic content every couple of months to ensure the game doesn’t get stale.
#FableLegends will be free to play! Head to our website for more information about this exciting announcement!: http://t.co/2QWOtFyfd5
— Lionhead Studios (@LionheadStudios) February 26, 2015
Players will be given a rotating line-up of heroes to play through Fable Legends for free. These heroes can also be purchased with the in-game currency (Silver) to hold on to them permanently or they can be bought with real-world money using the Gold currency in-game.
The experience and progress that players earn with individual heroes will be kept whether the hero is purchased or not. So, if you rank up a hero and he goes out of rotation, he will be the same rank for you when he comes back into rotation later.
In addition to purchasing heroes, Fable Legends players will also be able to purchase customizations such as new outfits and player skins. That’s basically the exact same basic economic model popularized by free-to-play MOBAs such as League of Legends and Dota 2.
The villain side is perhaps a little more questionable when it comes to the pay-to-win debate. The single-player villain controls various monsters and traps in the game world to battle the heroes. Each quest in Fable Legends has creatures that are available (native) from the start, according to a FAQ. Creatures that are not native to the quest can be unlocked through gameplay or purchased. The same goes for traps and gates.
It ultimately depends on the monsters and traps that will need to be unlocked or purchased on whether or not the villain side is more pay-to-win in Fable Legends. Are these monsters and traps significantly more powerful? How long will unlocking them take? These are questions that Lionhead Studios will be answering in the closed beta that is currently on-going.
Fable Legends is still slated for a 2015 release. It’s shaping up to be one of the more interesting upcoming titles for Xbox One and Windows 10 due to Microsoft’s approach. Not only is it free-to-play, but it will support cross-platform play.
What do you think of the free-to-play move for Fable Legends? Sound off in the comments below.
[Images via Fable Legends]
