TitanReach, the upcoming indie MMORPG from Square Root Studios, announced today that their upcoming early access period will actually be free to play. Those who did purchase early access....access...will recevie some in-game loot and titles as a thank you as the MMO gears up for its eventual launch.
In a blog post, the team explained how the new situation will work, with early access beginning on August 1st at 10 AM Sydney time (GMT+10 for the rest of the world). Players who have a TitanReach account will be able to join in on the early access testing, which will run until the closed alpha test for the indie MMO begins.
As such, the ability to purchase your way into early access will be removed from the store, and those who purchased the right to play early will be gifted "exclusive rewards" on your account.
"This means that Early Access will be removed from the store on the 1st of August as well. If you buy or have already bought Early Access before it becomes Free to Play, you will receive some exclusive rewards for your account! These include the Founder title for your characters, an Early Access cosmetic cape, and an Early Access badge that will be displayed on your character inspection screen at a later date."
On Twitter, the team stated that they have been "discussing different methods to broaden [their] audience," so it seems that opening early access previously blocked by a paywall was the way to do so.
As a team, we have been discussing different methods to broaden our audience, reward those of you who have supported us so far and also give players more of a bang for their buck. This will be done in three stages.https://t.co/0CAKKRyBgg
— TitanReach (@PlayTitanReach) July 21, 2021
The team at Square Root Studios might be giving early access away for those with an account, closed alpha is most certainly still up for sale. Additionally, once early access begins, if you bought items from the store, most of them should be useable in game, including pets, early access rewards and more.
You can check out the full post on the TitanReach website. Recently the team held a Q&A talking about the Glimmermoore area, as well as breaking down some of the design decisions on the team's part heading into early access.