For the most part, we liked Evolve. I think a lot of people did, and before its release I would have told you that it was going to be a big deal. Of course, that obviously wasn’t the case, largely due to the game’s woefully mismanaged DLC plan. Now it’s a graveyard, the game often has daily users that are clear down in the triple digits, and queuing up for a game can take longer than playing the game itself.
The game’s developer, Turtle Rock Studios obviously sees the error laid before them, releasing a blog post today where they themselves reference the “DLC shitstorm” tied to the game’s release. Now in an attempt to win back some audience…any audience the game is making the natural transition to being a free to play title. This also means that all of the game’s content can now be unlocked through normal play. Turtle Rock promises “appreciation, gifts, rewards, and special access” for early adopters and season pass holders, but we don’t yet know specifically what that will look like. For now this change will only affect PC users and at present the F2P version is being billed a beta as Turtle Rock likely has a lot to work out on the server capacity management front.
The game will be undergoing significant changes, Turtle Rock has outlined the following in their blog post:
- We’re reworking the hunter classes to make the team less reliant on having experienced trappers and medics.
- We’re making improvements to the maps and UI.
- We’re improving load times, overall performance, and getting you into the game faster.
- We’re focusing on improving stability and fixing bugs.
- We’re completely reworking our progression system and tutorials.
- We’re adding more customization options.
You can read Turtle Rock’s full statement about the move here, and you can find Evolve Stage 2 on Steam here.
