Ghost Recon Online announced, beta sign-ups open

Ubisoft announced Ghost Recon Online today, a PC-based, free-to-play shooter supported by microtransactions. The closed beta starts this summer, and sign-ups are now open.

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Ubisoft announced Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online today, a PC-based free-to-play shooter. The downloadable title is being developed by Ubisoft Singapore, and is planning for a closed beta sometime this summer. If you're interested, you can sign up for the closed beta at the official site.

The game will feature three Ghost classes, customizable weapons, and persistent progression. Since it's an online-centric game, Ubisoft is planning regular in-game events and content updates, along with customized content that responds to user feedback. And as a free-to-play title, it is (of course) supported by microtransactions for premium and personalization items.

"Ghost Recon Online takes the best attributes of the Ghost Recon game franchise and brings them online, making the experiences of being a Ghost accessible to millions of new players and fans," said senior producer Hugues Ricour. "This game was designed from the start to be a free-to-play experience. Our development teams are dedicated to making Ghost Recon Online a truly unique, top-quality online title."

This is Ubisoft's first attempt to dip its toes into the free-to-play shooter market. EA, one of Ubisoft's largest publishing competitors, has seen success with Battlefield Heroes and recently launched Battlefield Play4Free.

Check out the game's announcement trailer below, while pondering why it isn't named "Ghost Reconline." Missed opportunity, Ubisoft. Missed opportunity.

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From The Chatty
  • reply
    May 24, 2011 11:10 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, Ghost Recon Online announced, beta sign-ups open.

    Ubisoft announced Ghost Recon Online today, a PC-based, free-to-play shooter supported by microtransactions. The closed beta starts this summer, and sign-ups are now open.

    • reply
      May 24, 2011 12:01 PM

      I think the only game to use this model that I've ever been interested in is World of Tanks.

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      May 24, 2011 12:05 PM

      LOTRO has had pretty good success with Free to Play.

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      May 24, 2011 12:08 PM

      I really hope this isn't what Ghost Recon Future Warrior turned into. Just waiting for the announcement that it got dropped for this. This does look neat though.

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      May 24, 2011 7:25 PM

      To dispel some rumors, as far as I know, this is a seperate game from Future Soldier. It is not the same game, nor is it intended to replace it. Future Soldier is still listed on GameStop's website, and an unofficial release date of 10/1/11 is on the site as well, but commenters there say that is has been delayed until 2012. This info is, as far as I know, true. I apologize ahead of time incase it is porved wrong or anything like that.

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      May 24, 2011 8:10 PM

      Battlefield Play4Free did not help my anticipation for the incoming wave of freemium shooters.

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      May 24, 2011 8:42 PM

      that's the floatiest running animation i've seen since quake 2. wow.

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