The world of MMOs is changing as more and more developers try and modify the business model that's based on subscription. The free-to-play mode, that makes a game free for all players and relies on money from advertising and microtransactions to pay for the operating costs, is becoming more and more attractive in the West, after it has pretty much conquered the MMO markets in Asia.

True Games and Petroglyph have announced a partnership to create such a free-to-play MMO that will make its debut in the Western market. The game will be developed by Petroglyph while all publishing efforts will be undertaken by True Games, which has previous expertise in microtransations and MMO publishing.

Petroglyph is best known as being the company where most of the former Westwood staff has migrated to, after Westwood was folded into Electronic Arts (thanks very much for that... and don't forget you also took Maxis and Bullfrog from us, EA). They went on to create the Star Wars game called Empire at War, which featured real-time ground battles with a strategic space overlay, which garnered both positive and negative reviews. Their latest effort is the real-time strategy called Universe at War, which features massive robots dropped from orbit, which we love and is a fresh take on the RTS space invasion concept.

Given the games Petroglyph has announced we might look at an MMO that tries to introduce some strategic and tactical elements into gameplay, which could prove interesting. Until now, True Games have made no statement regarding the nature of the game that's being developed.

Jeff Lujan, who is Chief Publishing Officer at True Games Interactive, stated that: "The Petroglyph founding team pioneered the Real-Time Strategy genre and they continue to innovate in this segment. It is an honor to partner with them for this game. Petroglyph is known for high quality RTS games that appeal on a global level, and when combined with True Games' expertise in the micro-transaction arena we have the recipe for an international blockbuster."