
Funcom har haft det svært med at finde et tilpas stort publikum til deres konspirations-fyldte MMO The Secret World, hvilket nu har fået dem til at skifte til en alternativ betalingsmodel.
Man vil stadig skulle betale en engangspris for selve spillet, men herefter vil man kunne vælge at spille helt gratis. For de mest passionerede spillere vil det dog stadig være muligt at betale et månedligt abonnement (alle de nuværende, betalende spillere bliver automatisk skiftet over til denne model) som vil give dem følgende bonusser:
- Time Accelerator (Clickable item which increases experience gain for defeating monsters by 100% for 1 hour, 16 hour cool-down - only usable by Members and Grand Masters)
- $10 worth of Bonus Points (given out every month)
- Item-of-the-month gift (given out every month)
- 10% discount to everything in the in-game store
Planerne for kommende DLC-pakker er også store:
"Periodically we will release packs of DLC (Downloadable Content). These updates, called Issues in The Secret World, contain new content, such as more Auxiliary Weapons, new missions and story arcs. These packs are fully optional and can be purchased normally or for the Bonus Points that are included in the optional Membership, as well as with the Grandmaster Lifetime service.
The first DLC will start selling in January 2013, and is the main storyline of issue #5. This will sell for $5, however this content is already fully unlocked for anyone who has a full game account registered before the end of December 2012.
Regular patches with free content and updates and enhancements to the core game will still continue."