Wayfinder announces big change, moves away from free to play release

After a rocky launch last year and a month after parting ways with Digital Extremes, Airship Syndicate have now announced huge changes to Wayfinder, changing the genre of the game after a huge update coming in June.

Wayfinder launched as an MMO live service game developed by Airship Syndicate, who were known for their single-player titles and Published by Digital Extremes, the developers of Warframe. The game launched in early access, however, it didn’t go as planned due to multiple issues and player criticism regarding microtransactions.

The latest decision regarding the game, however, has left many shocked. As per the developer blog, the game will go from live service to a single-player title with co-op elements. This is a very big step, as not many developers opt to go this route for a live service game.

In the notes, the developers confess that if they keep the game live service, they would need to shut down the server eventually, while going single-player will allow them to keep the game alive. “We realize this is a big shift, but a necessary one to guarantee that the game is around forever,” the devs wrote.

Announcing Wayfinder Echoes
👨‍👩‍👦Single player & Co-op
💵One price. $24.99 USD
🚫No Microtransactions or In-game purchases
😼New Wayfinder - Grendel
🎁Weapons & Armor Drops
🗺️New Zone
➕ Much more

June 11th on Steam, PS5 Summer, Xbox X|S Fall.
Read More:https://t.co/WI7apP81gf

— Wayfinder (@playwayfinder) May 15, 2024

Wayfinder will not be free to play anymore

The game launches as a live service with players being free to play on launch, supported by microtransactions. Since all online elements are gone, the game will now launch with a $25 price tag for early access. Those who already bought the early access will receive the update for free and even two weeks of early access to the game.

From here on, the game will receive regular patches and updates like a single-player game that players can play at their own pace, alone or with up to three friends. The Echoes update will also add a new open-world zone that will be three times as large as the current zone.

This update will further allow the devs to work on the game more and even release updates for new stories and areas possibly as DLCs, although there is no official announcement in this regard.