14 DAY TRIAL // One of the leading developers working on the upcoming Ghost Recon Online shooter at Ubisoft has admitted that his company is experimenting with the new free-to-play video game and that the approach it takes to the new business model will evolve over time.
Jean-Marc Geoffrey, who is the creative director working on Ghost Recon Online, spoke to Eurogamer about the game and stated, “We need to learn how it works: how to make free-to-play successful. Maybe even with consoles. We don’t know how the future will pan out, the business is changing. It’s business design research.”
The developer also talked about how the PC free-to-play game will offer a different experience from the console release, adding, “The experiences are different," Jacobs explained.
"Ghost Recon Online is free-to-play and has things like the exo-skeleton and the gameplay systems that Future Soldier had before it refocused itself two years ago. It's still a cover shooter and still objective-based, but there are little different nuances.”
Ghost Recon Online will allow anyone to get into the game and become competitive based on skills and abilities.
Those who want more options when it comes to their character, weapons and abilities will also have the option to pay in order to access them, but the development team at Ubisoft says that paying players will not have a distinct advantage over those who always use the free model.
The console version of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier will be a more classic third-person shooter experience that will be launched at the end of May on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.
The PC game is being prepared for a June 12 release in North America and two days later in Europe.
Ubisoft is also developing a Nintendo Wii U version of Ghost Recon, but it has not offered any details on the planned experience.