EverQuest II going free-to-play next month

Sony Online Entertainment announced today that EverQuest II will be joining what’s starting to feel like just about every MMO ever made in their transition over to the free-to-play model.

Starting next month, players will be able to download the latest EverQuest II client free of charge, and of course will be able to play free of charge. To entice you to throw down some money, SOE will be offering some new tiered membership benefits.

If you currently have a subscription for EverQuest II, you won’t notice many changes in the transition. If you’re not a subscriber but you’re willing to commit to a $15 a month fee, you’ll have access to all races and all character classes.

For the next step down, Silver, you’ll still have access to much of the game’s content, but you will be restricted. For example, you’re limited to four character slots per server, four bag slots per character and a maximum gold amount of 20 per level. The free option is even more stricted, with only two character slots available, two bag slots and a maximum of 5 gold per level.

For more information on the differences in membership tiers, head over to the EverQuest II features matrix at this link, and for more on EverQuest II‘s transition into free-to-play, check out Massively’s report here.