SOE President John Smedley has announced that his company will
launch, likely in the fall of 2006, a "free" online game, which has no subscription fee whatsoever. The catch, however,
likely inspired by Sony's success with EverQuest's Station
Exchange, is that new content is going to cost you some cash. The idea behind the model is that many people do not want
to try online gaming because of its monthly subscription cost, and that this way people who normally would not play the
game can try it for free, get addicted, and then spend more money than they ever would have with a subscription-based
game.
There are no details on this title, only that it is in development. No platform is mentioned, but we would not be
surprised if this "free" online game had something to do with the PlayStation 3's online plan.
Engadget
TUAW