Ascend: New Gods releasing as ‘free-to-play’

Big changes are on the horizon for XBLA. Not only has the online service experienced exponential growth throughout the past few years, more and more gamers are now turning to the service for their gaming needs. In keeping with XBLA’s recent changes, today Signal Studios announced that their upcoming XBLA, hack-and-slash loot-fest, Ascend: New Gods will be one of the first titles to go free-to-play on Xbox 360.

According to Signal Studios, the game’s free-to-play structure will go hand-in-hand with in game “currency” known as souls. These souls can be used to access and utilize specific items, abilities, upgrades, and character customizations; these souls can be earned through gameplay or spending Microsoft Points to acquire. Signal also confirmed that the new business model will allow them to release more timely updates, some meatier than ever before, though details were limited to as how often New Gods will be updated with enhancements or DLC.

Microsoft’s sudden interest in free-to-play has us thinking; if you had the opportunity to make one current XBLA game free-to-play, which would you chose and why? Let us know by commenting below.

Source: [Signal Studios press release]