This fall, Lord of the Rings Online (LOTRO) goes Free-To-Play

This fall, Lord of the Rings Online (aka LOTRO) will turn from a subscription-based game into a Free-to-Play game.

Turbine, the company that developed and published LOTRO, was bought by Warner Brotherss Interactive Entertainment, who seem to plan on repeating a trick Turbine did before. Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) was also converted into a free-to-play concept by Turbine, after sales did not meet the expectations, and as one of the first major titles, DDO proved that free-to-play as a concept could actually work in the US.

In Asia, these kind of deals are far more common, but the US traditionally seemed to prefer a subscription based system. DDO, however, was a major hit after turning free.

The idea is that players can freely run around, and instead of paying their subscriptions, they pay for luxury items or special upgrades bought in the store. Thus, micro-transactions will keep the hamsters running and the devs coding.

Read all about the upcoming LOTRO conversion at the official LOTRO site.


Other news from the Free-To-Play front is THQs announcement that Company Of Heroes Online will be on a free-to-play basis as well. And at the same time, LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment are joining forces for a new free-to-play Star Wars MMO title called Clone Wars Adventures.

 

The new beta for LOTRO starts June 16th, so there's a little time left to sign up. For those interested, the LOTRO beta signup can be found by clicking the link.