Update:

We just wanted to remind our readers that Carbine Studios' MMORPG WildStar has launched with its revamped, free-to-play economic model this month.

That's right, WildStar has skipped out on its premium subscription plans and has followed the free-to-play trend. You can hit up WildStar's official website and sign up to play this reloaded version of the game, though we heard its servers have been taking a beating since the F2P jump this morning. WildStar has followed countless other MMORPGs that have failed to compete with Final Fantasy XIV and World of Warcraft in terms of offering subscription-based gameplay. I'd tell you all about WildStar's features, but I think it warrants a try. Since it's now free-to-play, I suggest you check it out for yourself.

Original Story:

Polygon reports that Carbine Studios and NCSoft have announced that their sci-fi MMORPG, WildStar, will be going free-to-play later this month. They also announced that the second phase of WildStar's closed beta test will be beginning today. Carbine Studios refers to this new build of the game as WildStar Reloaded, which will change the game over to a free-to-play economic model. Anyone is free to sign up for a beta key at the WildStar website, and any current, active subscribers have access to the closed beta as well.

Carbine Studios is a subsidiary of NCSoft, which has been in a lot of financial trouble lately. NCSoft was hit with a heavy round of layoffs this past April. NCSoft West handed off its customer service support to an external provider, which is likely in a poorer area of the world where the rate of pay is much cheaper as opposed to having Western customer service representatives. In October 2014, Carbine had to layoff over 60 percent of its development team less than five months after WildStar's release, which was likely due to the game's underwhelming sales and subscriptions. These layoffs and all the other paid subscription-based MMORPGs switching over to the F2P model prove that no one can really compete in the market against Final Fantasy XIV and World of Warcraft.

WildStar is expected to go free-to-play on Sept. 29.

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