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Tera Goes Free-to-Play in South Korea and Japan, Still Subscription-Based Elsewhere

North American and European players still need to pay a monthly subscriber

Dec 28, 2012 16:11 GMT  ·  By
Tera is going free-to-play in Asia
   Tera is going free-to-play in Asia

Tera, the action-focused online role-playing game that came out back in 2011 in Asia and earlier this year everywhere else, will go free-to-play in South Korea and Japan, while players from other parts of the world, like Europe or North America, will continue to pay a monthly subscription for the game.

Tera promised to deliver a much more action-focused experience than other Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Games and it definitely impressed with its great-looking graphics as well as the attractive characters.

After operating with a subscription strategy, meaning players had to pay a monthly sum of money to play the game, the publisher of the game in South Korea and Japan, NHN, has confirmed that it's going to turn the game into a free-to-play experience.

According to MMO Culture, the move will happen on January 10, in Korea, and in the middle of February, in Japan.

In response to rumors about Tera's fate in North America or Europe, the game's publisher in those regions, En Masse Entertainment, has posted a message on its forums, saying that the subscription model will continue to be used.

"As you may have read, NHN (the publisher for Tera in Korea) has decided to change Tera's business model to be free. The industry has shifted in this direction and the Korean gaming market has always been on the forefront of this shift. NHN's decisions are their own as is every territory that services Tera. Tera currently remains a subscription-based game in North America and Europe," the company said.

"Regardless of the news from Korea, the good news is that Tera will continue to grow and improve with new game content in North America, and all content will be available for us should we decide to evaluate their use. We know you are full of questions but that is all we have for now. Enjoy the holidays and look to January for more information - 2013 is going to be huge for us and we can't wait to get started."

Considering more and more subscription-based MMOs are going free-to-play, it's only a matter of time before any player in North America or Europe can play Tera for free.