‘The Secret World’ Dropping Subscription Requirement

When Funcom’s latest MMO, The Secret World, launched earlier this year, it launched as a subscription-based title in a genre now filled with free-to-play offerings. Perhaps inevitably given lower than expected sales, Funcom has decided to drop the subscription requirement.

Rather than going the free-to-play route that is all the rage in the MMO space, Funcom is adopting Guild Wars 2‘s way of handling it. After you’ve paid for the game itself, you’ll be able to access the game at no extra charge for as long as the servers stay up.

Instead of the subscription model, Funcom will make its earnings from periodic “DLC” releases for The Secret World, which will start rolling out at some point at or around January. All of the game’s base content will be completely unrestricted, and Funcom says it will be releasing free content updates in addition to the paid offerings.

The Secret World‘s subscription option isn’t going away however. If you plop down $15 a month, you’ll receive $10 worth of bonus points for use in the in-game s Item Store every month and a 10 percent discount on all Item Store purchases.

Additionally, subscribers will receive an item called the “Time Accelerator,” which grants the user double XP for an hour. Rather than being a one-time use item, the Time Accelerator works on a 16-hour cooldown, meaning you’ll be able to use it at roughly once a day.

If you bought the Grandmaster package, which nets you a lifetime subscription to The Secret World, your subscription will stay. As a bonus reward, you’ll receive a 20 percent discount on all Item Store purchases.

You can check out the latest trailer for The Secret World below.