Following switch to F2P model, Hi-Rez switches focus to PC edition of fast-paced, online shooter; PSN version possible.
When Global Agenda creator Hi-Rez Studios first announced it would be reviving the pioneering Tribes franchise, the game was planned as a full retail release for Xbox Live and the PC later this year. However, over the past several months, those plans have changed, most notably with Hi-Rez's decision to turn Tribes: Ascend into a free-to-play, microtransaction-supported shooter.
Now, Hi-Rez has also tweaked how it plans to release the game. Today, the studio confirmed for GameSpot that it has back-burnered the Xbox Live version of the game in favor of throwing its entire weight behind the PC edition.
Hi-Rez is not ruling out the Xbox Live version entirely; indeed, the studio is also considering a PlayStation Network release for the free-to-play title. "An eventual XBLA version--and even PSN version--is not out of the question but neither will be this year," the Hi-Rez representative told GameSpot.
As with its predecessors, Tribes: Ascend will focus on large-scale, fast-paced sci-fi combat. The game's free-to-play model sees players rotating between a number of different equipment loadouts, which include heavy, medium, and light armor and supplies. Alternatively, players will be able to purchase the loadouts they wish to continue playing with.
For more on Tribes: Ascend, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.
Tom Magrino has covered the games industry since 2006. He's been compared to Steve Martin by Ozzy Osbourne and Daniel Craig by Tim Schafer. His voice, heard largely on GameSpot's podcast, recalls that of Kermit the Frog. It ain't easy bein' Magreen.
@MrGoldfish1 Kids these days. Tribes wrote the book that Halo plagiarized from for its middle school essay. Tribes is the best multiplayer game I have ever played. Everything that has been released since has been a step back and has failed to even come close to a shadow of what Tribes was. I feel sorry for anyone who did not get to see Tribes in all its glory.
they had me at tribes! ... then they lost me at free to play micro-transaction. am i wrong in thinking that the only people who prefer this micro transaction model are 14 year old kids who can't pay for a full retail game? I loved tribes years ago.... but i'll pass on this.
Maybe now's a good time to ask just where I can download any of the older Tribes games, particularly Vengeance, which is probably the most recent one. I've heard that D2D had it, but since GameFly bought out the company, there were many PC games removed for one to buy and download, so I'm worried that I won't ever get to play this series (at least not a long time from now).
@MrGoldfish1, the original Tribes came out almost 4 years before Halo 1. If anything, Halo took inspiration from Tribes.
I remember liking Aerial Assault, so I'm really hoping they go forward with the 360 version so I can actually play it.
A cool idea for an online-only FPS: Free to play basic game, pay to download quality developer-made mods. If you like the original game, you don't have to pay. If you like it a whole lot, you can pay for more of it. That way the people playing for free won't be at a disadvantage, they just won't have the full amount of content available.
DID YOU KNOW? People still play Starsiege: Tribes? You can download it for free. It's awesome for nostalgia to put it on the lowest graphics settings and wonder how your eyes didn't bleed back in the day. ~Memorieees~
xbox & playstation probably ain't gettin it becuase they wanna charge for it instead of givin it away. I'd buy it for the pc even if it wasn't free since I got the other Tribes games.
That Freemium model is really putting me off at the moment. Can't you just charge me once off and leave me in peace? Greedy hacks, I'd much rather cut my head off with a toothbrush than support them.
I'm sorry but this seems like Halo with a twist, I believe Halo is a XBox/Pc exclusive and this game appears to be too. Also the Halo assault rifle looks almost identical to the one in the screen shot. But what should I care, I don't even have an XBox or a PC.
Making a console-optimized two-weapon Tribes game and sending it to the PC first. Hi-Rez apparently has no word for "irony".
i dont mind buying a game. it simple some of this titles i never played and dont want to was the money simple buying a key for the game.
This free to play crap is getting out of hand. Its annoying ands seems to be a route that many PC devs are taking these days. Microtransactions are bad and the quality of the games suffer for it.
I'll wait for the XBox Live version. With Planetside 2 in the works, this may not even be needed. I'll wait and see how the game turns out though.
@Richardthe3rd I agree completely. Let me just buy the game itself. F2P doesn't sound like a good idea for this game.
Not interested in this anymore at all. Part of Tribes was being able to choose which loadout you needed given your team composition, the map, and what the objective was. If you have to play in a map with a bunch of players who aren't willing to pay and have no control over that decision, the game quickly devolves into deathmatch with a random load-out. No thanks.
Will be interesting to see if they can pull this off. Let?s hope for a good revival of this game
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