BitCraft Online Reaffirms F2P For Full Launch, But "We Shall See If We Can Sustain The Game In This Way"

Years ago, Clockwork Laboratories dropped a blog detailing their initial monetization philosophies for their upcoming MMO BitCraft Online. Last year, we wrote a piece looking at their somewhat unique way of monetizing their "Empire System."

While the game's upcoming early access will require a $30 purchase to enter, the team details their reasoning for this in a new blog post that reaffirms their commitment to launch BitCraft as a F2P title, but it leaves a little wiggle room for changes should the plan not work out or not provide enough income to actually sustain the game.

First, early access will be monetized in two ways. The first is the above mentioned box fee. The second is through the sale of Hexite Shards, the game's cash shop currency. Shards can be used to purchase many things, but the team reiterates that all of these items are cosmetic in nature. Even the intersection of Hexite Shards and the Empire System is covered in a bit more detail. "Empires are not a land purchasing system. Empires are not claims. They don’t affect what other players can or cannot build within their boundaries. It doesn’t affect the average player beyond how the borders of Europe affect their country’s citizens. It’s kind of like Crusader Kings. The purpose of the empire system is to give players something to rally behind while encouraging political intrigue and social gameplay," says the team.

Once we make it to an eventual launch, however, that $30 box fee goes away. Ok, so why is it there at all, then? The team cites two reasons: better Steam promotion since Steam gets a cut, and it allows the team to ramp servers up over time and scale slowly while making cash.

All of that said, there is a possibility that things could change still. F2P certainly gives the game a chance at accessing the largest possible audience. This is especially important for a game that basically relies on player-created conflict and intrigue. However, "It’s possible that in the future we decide it’s better to monetize the game with a subscription, albeit with a smaller but more dedicated community. At this moment, however, I feel that eventually making BitCraft free-to-play with the commensurately larger community still makes sense. We shall see if we can sustain the game in this way."

We'll see if it pans out, but the team does take the opportunity to remind potential players that BitCraft Online has nothing to do with NFTs or cryptocurrencies, despite the game's name maybe implying otherwise.