Details on "Project Copernicus," the Kingdoms of Amalur MMO that once dominated development at Curt Schilling's now defunct
38 Studios, has surfaced.
In a recent interview with Boston Magazine, Schilling revealed that the "triple-A" MMO was to be free-to-play, and expressed his belief that it was going to be "the atom bomb" that "shocked the world" if it had the chance to release.
"We were going to be the first triple-A, hundred-million-dollar-plus, free-to-play, micro-transaction-based MMO. That was one of our big secrets. I think when we eventually showed off the game for the first time, the atom bomb was going to be free-to-play. When we announced that at the end, that was gonna be the thing that, I think, shocked the world."
Schilling was apparently against the free-to-play play model in the beginning, but he changed his mind during development. Schilling attributed subscription titles as the reason for the change, as he believed investors were shying away from those types of MMOs.
"You won't find a more ardent opposition to free to play than me, and I went 180 degrees. Most investors wanted nothing to do with subscription-based products, they were all on the social media, and free-to-play games as a means to revenue."
Source: Gamesindustry Biz
By Nathan Misa