European publisher Namco Bandai has just announced the next game in the long running Ridge Racer series which will be a free to play game. Ridge Racer Driftopia will be the first free to play game in the series after a few faltering instalments that didn’t really earn as much praise as previous games. Using this new free to play model will hopefully garner more players and receive more positive feedback.
NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe today announced a new downloadable free-to-play title based on the smash RIDGE RACER™ franchise, RIDGE RACER™ Driftopia.
“At NAMCO BANDAI Games we are committed to embracing new business models alongside the still vital traditional retail sector,” said Olivier Comte, Senior Vice President, NAMCO BANDAI Games Europe. “Free-to-play is playing an increasingly important role, so it’s very exciting to be bringing one of our most successful franchises to the free-to-play space for everyone to enjoy.”
RIDGE RACER™ Driftopia will put the series’ irresistible signature drifting right at the heart of the experience, with more details to be announced soon. The game is slated for release later in 2013 for PlayStation®3 and PC.
Not much is known about the game but it will received in game transactions in order to gain a certain advantage, akin to many free to play games today. The free to play model is very popular know with many MMOs adopting it over the traditional subscription based model. It is unknown how much of an advantage the in game transactions will provide since the notion of ‘pay to win’ is currently a small yet controversial issue. Though it is nice to see more free to play games on the PS3 with the biggest one currently being Dust 514.
Along with this announcement, a new trailer for game has also been released, you can check it out below:
Ridge Racer was first developed by Namco in 1993 for the arcade, where it went onto the PlayStation in 1994. There it didn’t gain much praise or high sales but continued to be developed on the system alongside the arcade until the end of the genration. The major breakthrough of the series was Ridge Racer 4: Type 4 which received widespread acclaim. The game itself was noted to provide a good arcade experience and using the powerslide feature as an emphasise. Since then the series has had its ups and downs so this new free to play approach will hopefully revitalise the series.
Ridge Racer Driftopia is set to release on the PS3 and PC later this year.
“Ridge Racer”, “Ridge Racer Driftopia”, image, trailer and all associated brands and titles © 1993-2013 Namco Bandai Games