Trion Worlds hopes to attract more newcomers to its fantasy-themed MMO
Rift by taking a page straight out of the
World of Warcraft playbook.
Starting today, those signing up for a free account through the publisher can play
Rift infinitely, though their characters will not evolve past level 20. Previously, free players were limited to a 7-day trial.
The new service, called
Rift Lite, is similar to what Blizzard began offering
last year for
World of Warcraft. That version of the game,
World of Warcraft: Starter Edition, also offers unlimited free play, and also caps its players' levels at 20.
Rift developer and publisher Trion Worlds
recently raised a new round of funding to the tune of $85 million, adding to the already substantial $100 million the Redwood City-based company previously raised.
The company currently has two other games in the pipeline:
Defiance, an MMO that will coincide with a television show on cable network SyFy, and
End of Nations, a massively-multiplayer RTS by former Westwood (
Command & Conquer) veterans at Las Vegas' Petroglyph, which has launched games including
Universe at War and
Star Wars: Empire at War. The latter title will be the first Trion game to launch under the traditional free-to-play model.
CEO Lars Buttler
recently hinted that the company may soon file for an initial public offering, saying that such a movie is "clearly on our horizon at some point."
According to Buttler,
Rift remains a "vastly profitable" venture for the company, having drawn in more than $100 million in revenue.
