Play Star Trek Online for Free Starting on January 17, 2012

Video game publisher Atari has confirmed that its MMO Star Trek Online will be moving to the free-to-play business model on January 17 of next year, allowing all interested players to explore the entire game without paying any subscription.

This is just the latest of high profile MMOs who are ditching the subscription concept and aiming to get as big as possible a player base via free access while persuading a small number of them to actually pay in order to get some extra items or faster leveling up.

Games like The Lord of the Rings Online, who was the first big game to make the switch, DC Universe Online from Sony and Team Fortress 2 from Valve have already shown how free-to-play can lead to success.

Star Trek Online combines space based combat, with the player controlling a type of ship from the universe, with a number of planet exploration missions that explore the away team concept from the franchise.