Tribes: Ascend is Free to Play, Developer Explains Why

Tribes: Ascend, the latest game in the Tribes series of high speed first person shooters will be free to play according to its developers at Hi-Rez.

"Convincing people to pay $50, $30, or even $30 for a title requires a very large marketing budget and even then there is no guarantee that people will buy," wrote a representative on the Global Agenda forums.

The company says that the success of the game will depend heavily on the gameplay itself, much more so than its marketing.

"You recognize 'Tribes' as a great brand, and we recognize 'Tribes' as a great brand, but the majority of today's gamers do not necessarily recognize the Tribes franchise," he said.

"We'd honestly rather put more of our resources on game development and ongoing updates versus a huge marketing campaign. At the same time our Dev Team is working incredibly hard on the title and we DO want a large number of people to become aware of the game, to try the game, and hopefully enjoy the game for many years.

"By offering a AAA game as free-to-play we'll have the largest number of people exposed to the game and trying the game. After that the game can succeed and fail on its own merits."

The company intends to continue its development of the game well beyond its launch period. "As a studio we experiment and innovate and we think the best games are the result of constant iteration and update. In fact, for us launching the game is more like the beginning than the end."

Additionally, Tribes: Ascend will allow players to earn their way through the game without paying for it. Players will not be able to "pay-2-win," because it "goes against the studio's general philosophy."

Tribes: Ascend will be available later this year on the PC.