According to community manager Mike Lescault via Reddit, players are not required to have an Xbox Live Gold subscription to play Project Spark.
The game was announced during Microsoft’s E3 2013 press event. It is a ‘game maker’ video game based on Kodu Game Lab and it was developed by Team Dakota. A title that allows players to build their own world using the tools provided to them.
Players will be able to use the Kinect and SmartGlass to build environments with mountains, rivers, and towns. In addition, it is also possible to program the behaviors of in-game objects.
This is significant news considering that Project Spark will be a free-to-play title. However, additional building elements, environments, and characters will be available for purchase.
Microsoft’s other free-to-play exclusive World of Tanks requires players to have an Xbox Live Gold subscription to play the game on the Xbox 360.
Wargaming CEO Victor Kislyi previously expressed his disappointment with the policy. Interestingly, he also added that, “Microsoft cannot drop it for us because they would have to drop it for everyone and it would be a total mess for them.”
It is still unclear if the recent revelation regarding Project Spark hints at a shift in Microsoft’s policy regarding free-to-play titles.
Project Spark will launch on the Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Windows 8 devices. Microsoft announced that the closed beta will be available on Windows 8 devices this month, followed by Xbox One in January 2014. No word yet on a beta for the Xbox 360.
