Vanguard: Saga of Heroes going free-to-play

Sony Online Entertainment is sending yet another of its MMORPGs free-to-play, planning to open Vanguard: Saga of Heroes up to all this summer. SOE's also ramping up development a little, expanding the team to make new content.

Details on how exactly Vanguard will run as a free-to-play game aren't settled, but director of development Andy Sites says it may be "similar to" EverQuest and DC Universe Online. Expect tiered memberships with optional subscriptions, microtransactions for items and boosters, and the usual F2P fare.

"We've had a dry spell of game updates over the past few months," Sites wrote. "That said, I'm happy to announce the drought will be coming to an end this week, with our first scheduled update since last December. We plan to roll out game updates MUCH more frequently than years past, which will include general improvements, new content and more. "

According to the F2P FAQ, its "tentative time frame" for the F2P relaunch is summer 2012.

Vanguard was created by Sigil Games, a studio founded by EverQuest veterans who left SOE. However, less than four months after the game launched in 2007, the assets of Vanguard and Sigil were acquired by SOE.