PSA: Brink Is Now Free To Play on Steam


In a rather surprising move, Bethesda Softworks has made first person shooter Brink free to play on Steam. Anyone can play the title without dropping a dime, however there is about $4 worth of DLC content.

Bethesda launched Brink in 2011, developed by Splash Damage, creators of Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory. The game was not well received, with critics pointing that the game felt incomplete and rushed to launch. On Steam, the game was virtually abandoned by the playerbase shortly after launch, and hasn’t broken 100 players on average since July 2012.

Speculation is running rampant that the free to play shift, especially after so many years of neglect, may be Bethesda or Splash Damage attempting to gauge interest in the IP. The game was not updated with any new monetization schemes, so players can sleep well knowing that this appears to be just a simple removal of the price tag.

Brink currently carries a 61% “mixed” approval rating on Steam.

(Source: Steam)

The Exiled Makes Season 3 Free For All


Sandbox MMO The Exiled this week announced that Season 3 will be available for free, temporarily removing the seven day trial and allowing all players to play for the entirety of the month, regardless of if they’ve purchased the client. Seasons in The Exiled run for one month, after which progress is wiped and players start anew.

Unlimited Free Trial during Season #3: In order to make it easier for new players to get into The Exiled we have decided to get rid of the 7-day trial period during Season #3. Yes, that means that you and all of your friends can play The Exiled for free for the coming four weeks. Just start the game and you’re in. You can (and should) still buy a Supporter Pack to unlock more character slots and get unique visuals for your character but it is not required anymore to play the game

Check out The Exiled on Steam.

Twitch Prime Offers RuneScape Goodies For April


Amazon Prime subscribers, among their other perks, enjoy access to Twitch Prime, a service that offers free channel subscriptions in addition to other monthly goods. This month, Twitch has partnered with Jagex to hand out a month of free membership and a few other bonuses. Log in to Twitch between April 11th and May 8th to claim your code and redeem a month of membership, 200 RuneCoins, 15 treasure hunter keys, and a Prime Colossus Legendary Pet.

The code itself needs to be redeemed by June 9th, with certain items (Treasure Hunter keys) not available for Ironman RuneScape accounts. Check out the instructions on the Twitch page for more details.

(Source: Twitch)

PSA: Chivalry: Medieval Warfare is Free On Steam


Thought about picking up Chivalry: Medieval Warfare and for some reason just never got around to it? Well today is your lucky day, because Torn Banner Studios has made the game free for the next day or so. This isn’t some free weekend trial sort of deal, either, once you activate the game you get to keep it forever. Head on over to the Steam page before the deal ends and add the game to your account.

Head on over to the link below to activate the game on your account.

(Source: Steam)

Atlas Reactor Is Going Free Again


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Atlas Reactor is going free, following the news from earlier this year that the game would be buy to play. In a post on the official website, Trion Worlds announced that players will have access to free character lists that rotate every week and are unique to the player. Reward caches are doled out as you play, handing out random assortments from the game’s hundreds of banners, emotes, titles, icons, taunts, etc.

We want to thank you all for the terrific feedback you’ve offered us in Beta. The launch of Free Mode accompanies Revised Player Progression, which will make obtaining rewards even clearer and more fun than it is today.

You can read the rest of the announcement at the link below.

(Source: Atlas Reactor)

Atlas Reactor Now Free Until July 17th


Atlas Reactor, Trion Worlds’ turn-based battle arena PC game currently in Closed Beta, is hosting a free event for all players from now until Sunday, July 17.  The event will see the introduction of two new freelancers as well as the preliminary implementation of Ranked Mode! During the free event, anyone can jump into Atlas Reactor and get a taste for the game’s fast-paced, simultaneous turn-based action.

To help new and current players get the most out of Atlas Reactor’s unique, turn-based team PvP mechanic, Trion has just published a gloriously illustrated, annoyingly thorough User Guide!

Trion has also released “Atlas’ Most Wanted,” a 15-second clip from its upcoming cinematic CG trailer produced by Blur Studio.

A brand new freelancer, Celeste, has also been unveiled and will be available throughout the free event. Celeste is a roguish firepower freelancer who will steal your heart – or at least, any valuables you may have. Players looking to try their hand at mastering Celeste can use the “Three Tips for Playing Celeste” below, compiled by the Atlas Reactor team to give players a better understanding of the new Freelancer and her play style.

  • Be mindful of where enemies are in relation to Celeste’s Smoke Bombs, good placement means that you can see your enemies while they can’t see you.
  • Celeste’s ultimate ability, Safecracker, can do immense damage but requires good positioning for maximum effect; try to catch enemies by surprise by using Smoke Bombs.
  • Celeste’s dash ability, “On The Run,” can be useful for getting around corners and positioning yourself onto power-ups appearing next turn.

Another new Freelancer will join the lineup of Atlas’ Most Wanted during the Free Event. This mechanised hero for hire will be revealed on Trion’s weekly Atlas Reactor livestream at 10:30 PM BST today, and will be available to players on July 12.

Chronicle: RuneScape Legends Hits Steam


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Free to play card game Chronicle: RuneScape Legends is now available on Steam. From the makers of RuneScape, Chronicle is a card game in which players build decks to create adventures for their characters to embark on, powering up their heroes over several chapters before finally taking on their enemy in one on one combat.

Initial reviews seem positive, with about an 87% approval rating.

Having spent the last six months in beta, Chronicle’s full launch on Steam brings with it new ranked sessions (the first of which is now live until 31st June) more than 400 cards, support for seven languages, over 40 Steam Achievements, Steam Trading Cards, and dozens of additional enhancements and improvements for the game’s full launch.

Interested gamers can check out Chronicle on Steam free.

(Source: Jagex Press Release)

Test Wild Terra Free This Week


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Wild Terra is an upcoming MMO where players train and live on a map that generates as they explore, and the developers have opened up testing to everyone for the next week. From March 29th to April 5th, you’ll be able to download the client and give the game a try.

MMO Fallout will have more coverage on Wild Terra coming this week.

(Source: Wild Terra)

Rift: More Perks For Patrons, Less For Everyone Else


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Trion Worlds is improving Rift, provided you’re a paying member. If not, you might log in to find your game experience is actually worse off than when you left it. Trion Worlds has been making a few controversial decisions regarding how they monetize their games over the past week, each time noting the need to enhance revenues and support their titles with the conclusion that “it’s just business.” Today, the company announced new enhancements to Rift’s patron subscription. Subscribers will enjoy immunity to soul vitality loss, a 50% discount on auction house fees and commissions, stacking charges, rest experience, and queues for specific warfronts and dungeons.

In addition to enhancing Patron status, these changes are designed to enhance the development revenues of the game as a whole, supporting the game we all love. We are fully committed to the long-term health of RIFT, and exploring options such as these that will keep Telara evolving over time

If many of the things listed above sound like features that Rift already has, that’s because they are. In enhancing Patron, Trion Worlds is actively revoking features from free players that have been present since the game went free to play. Trion Worlds waved away criticism over removing access by free players by describing the features as “not necessary in order to play.” The changes to queues, for the unaware, means free players will only be able to queue for random dungeons.

These are of course beneficial and convenient, but not necessary in order to play RIFT. Therefore, they are the sort of thing we believe should be reserved for Patrons. When we reviewed RIFT as a whole this year, we identified this as an area we had overlooked previously. On a side note, any non-patron can group with a Patron friend, who can then select specific queues for the group. In this way, a Patron provides benefits to those around them.

(Source: Rift)