CrimeCraft prepares for a conversion to free to play, announces first content update
by Seraphina Brennan 
Oct 2nd 2009 at 12:30PM
Filed under: Business models, Game mechanics, MMO industry, News items, Free-to-play, Crime, MMOFPS, CrimeCraft
The newly(ish) launched MMOFPS CrimeCraft made a bombshell of an announcement today, revealing that they were dropping their current subscription/boxed product model in favor of a free-to-play model.
CrimeCraft, which retails for 40 bucks at Best Buy and FutureShop, will be unleashing an "unlimited free trial" for their game along with a content update at the end of this month. Users who participate in this "unlimited free trial" will have the option to upgrade to a subscription based account in one of two flavors -- a 4.99 a month subscription or a 9.99 a month version. The difference between these two subscriptions comes down to customization, number of available skill slots, and the speed of experience gain.
So what about those people who paid the 40 dollars for the software? Well, you'll be getting an "Original Gangster" tag and icon for your character, a third free month of the 9.99 subscription plan, exclusive access to upcoming content, and more unannounced in-game items.
CrimeCraft, which retails for 40 bucks at Best Buy and FutureShop, will be unleashing an "unlimited free trial" for their game along with a content update at the end of this month. Users who participate in this "unlimited free trial" will have the option to upgrade to a subscription based account in one of two flavors -- a 4.99 a month subscription or a 9.99 a month version. The difference between these two subscriptions comes down to customization, number of available skill slots, and the speed of experience gain.
So what about those people who paid the 40 dollars for the software? Well, you'll be getting an "Original Gangster" tag and icon for your character, a third free month of the 9.99 subscription plan, exclusive access to upcoming content, and more unannounced in-game items.
The first content update will be introducing an in-game newspaper that will feature accomplishments from players and gangs in the community, placing pictures of top ranked gangs on billboards, titles via achievements, a cooperative "kill the boss" gameplay mode, story missions, and players dropping loot on the "riot mode" style of gameplay.
Of course all of this comes on the heels of Vogster Entertainment's announcement that they will be closing their overseas offices to focus on their New York office. The closings come with a renewed commitment to focus on developing CrimeCraft and its content updates.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
pbintx2001 said on 12:39PM 10-02-2009
wow,,this might do good as a f2p
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Tyranor said on 12:40PM 10-02-2009
Well, that didn't take long.
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Mr Angry said on 12:41PM 10-02-2009
Guys, seriously don't touch this, you are just going to get shafted badly.
They have no clue what the hell they are doing, they changed plans way to quickly for it to planned, it's an unmitigated disaster, and I really hope people aren't out of pocket as a result.
The only crime here is the questionable commitment to their customer base.
If you want to try a new MMO this weekend, then why not try the following
1) Free to play Dungeons and Dragons online
2) Aion (Mr Angrys current lady of the month)
3) Fallen Earth (I don't know how good/bad this one is)
4) City of Heroic Champions Online (just because it's new I guess)
Really don't go there with Crimecraft, the game has bombed already and what's happening now is rearranging deckchairs on the Titanic sadly.
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pbintx2001 said on 12:57PM 10-02-2009
love that deckchair example :) but when its f2p i'll chk it out, or at least the free side of the game :)
theremover said on 12:54PM 10-02-2009
This sounded awesome before it was released, they used plenty of cool catchphraises like 'open world'..
only to deliver something that was none of those things.
I'd maybe take a peak at it in a f2p model but not if you're at a disadvantage vs players who pay.
I'd be OUTRAGED if I was one of the people who paid for the game right now.
and regarding Mr Angry's Fallen Earth comment - if nothing else, it's better than crimecraft ;)
It's good and an indie game. Support it, not this steaming pile.
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theremover said on 12:57PM 10-02-2009
also,
it raised red flags when they announced the closure of the other offices.
saying it's with the intention of "focusing on the continuing development of crimecraft" is a really vague and easy thing to say...
sounds a lot more like "we're digging in and seeing what happens, because we sure as hell don't know and this is all we've got left"
kasapina said on 12:57PM 10-02-2009
Well, I'll try it anyway. There aren't many F2P mmo's on the market these days, and any addition is a welcome one. I had a very quick look at the website, and couldn't find any game info, so I'm gonna ask here - is it something of a room based shooter (eg. multiplayer only halo..) or more like planetside, with a bit bigger battles?
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theremover said on 1:00PM 10-02-2009
there's no shame in checking things out. i'm always doing the same, even the bad ones.. it's interesting to me.
However,
there are HUNDREDS of f2p things out there. Do some digging.
You can spend an entire day just flipping through the pages of available f2p mmos. Not to say many of them are good, but there's certainly enough that have thousands and thousands of users.
kasapina said on 1:52PM 10-02-2009
Sorry, my bad. I meant F2P MMOFPS's.
pbintx2001 said on 1:03PM 10-02-2009
would ya really be that upset? if i bought a pvp game and there was only the same 1 guy in the game to kill over and over, would ya really be that upset if the company is trying something to get people to come in-game,,then gimp them so they wanna pay a lil,, all the while your just happy that you have someone other than that original 1 guy to kill. i want more f2p, its like crack...what can i get from these guys for nothing :)
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theremover said on 1:13PM 10-02-2009
when someone is an early adopter to a new service or game, preorder and buy into it before it's launch after carefully mulling over the package and seeing what they get for their money...
they generally don't like it when they end up getting something completely different. Or when the company they bought it from decides that even though you had to pay for it, everyone else will have the opportunity to have it free or cheaper.
Any game where people can pay to have advantages over other players is doing something I don't like. It's just a bit goofy and not conducive to good gameplay and balance. If you want microtransactions, keep it to cosmetic stuff.
THAC0 said on 1:12PM 10-02-2009
Crimecraft was a turn they should be ashamed to have asked people to pay for that product. I tried the beta and i can say with no remorse that you shouldn't touch this game with a ten foot pole.
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eddie said on 1:34PM 10-02-2009
I still have trouble hearing this one called an MMO. It's a first person shooter game, and not a great one, with a lobby that you can walk around in. Period.
Frankly, you could put a persistant money mod into CounterStrike and have a richer, deeper, more engaging game than this one. It's already got better weapon balance, a more solid game engine, better maps, more responsive controls... and I could go on.
Then again, what exactly is the point of limiting better weapons to the people who spend the most time playing in a twitch game? I mean, those are the people who practice the most, and learn the maps the best already... why guarantee they win by rewarding them with equipment, too?
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ScytheNoire said on 1:50PM 10-02-2009
They are still keeping subscriptions in there, so really, this is more of a trial option than the game truly changing it's business model.
I'll wait for APB which says they won't have subscriptions of any kind. That's truly free to play, not fake free to play.
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Anjohl said on 1:56PM 10-02-2009
LONG overdue, but probably too late.
This game launched with such bold pretense, that I am suprised their investors have stayed onboard this long. Originally a free game, that was boxed and sold for $50, with a $10 sub, and now they had to switch to free. I doubt it will even last long at free.
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crisisavatar said on 2:21PM 10-02-2009
I haven't played the game so I can't comment on it but finally some1 is using a good free to pay model I can agree with. With the huge number of games currently out and coming out there is no way people are going to pay for each one, so that is why I think is best to let them browse around and then charge a very reasonable 5-10 bucks sub ( not 15 wth is wrong with them, you people aren't creating that good of a game ).
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PeterD said on 2:36PM 10-02-2009
How is this F2P if you need a subscription to not be gimped? That's like calling games with a free trial F2P. Omg, WoW is F2P!
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Anjohl said on 2:45PM 10-02-2009
Dungeons and Dragons Online has bar none the best free to play model on the net, and it's easily one of the best MMOs period. Give it a try.
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Khai Mann said on 3:11PM 10-02-2009
I'm also one of those that finds it hard to call this game F2P. A trial, no matter for how long, is never to be considered F2P.
For those that say there are no F2P FFP out there please take a look at crossfire and warock.
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ZombiBambi said on 7:42PM 10-02-2009
I feel bad for the people who bought this, but I don't think there were that many of them.
When Giant Bomb did their quick look, it should 240 people online. Shortly after release. Those numbers just don't look good.
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