Eden Rising Will Have A Free-To-Play Version At Launch
One year ago, developer Nvizzio Creations launched the Early Access version of Eden Rising on Steam. The game combines tower defense, open world, third-person action and multiplayer into one experience. You are an armored soldier called a Warden, tasked with defending human strongholds called Crucibles from hostile alien creatures. The Crucibles serve as your base, and they’re where you can upgrade your weapons with the materials you find, as well as make your characters more powerful.
Today Nvizzio announced that Eden Rising will graduate into a complete finished product next month, and that’s not all — the barrier to entry has been reduced to “free.” A stripped-down version of the game will be available to Steam users at no cost.
So how does a free version of Eden Rising support itself? Nvizzio promises it contains no microtransactions. There is no time limit or extra items you have to buy. The free version is even fully compatible with the paid version, so players with both versions can explore alongside each other. But there HAS to be a catch or no one would actually pay for the game.
The actual purpose for the free version of Eden Rising is to serve as a gateway to get people hooked on the game. While you can do everything in it that you can do in the paid version, you are limited to exploring just three locations. Those who own the full version will have the entire game world opened up to them — and THAT’S why you would want to buy it.
The free version is called the “Explorer Edition” while the paid version is called the “Ascendant Edition.” Both versions will launch on Steam May 17.