Steel Diver Will Be Nintendo's First Free-To-Play Game
Posted Tue 18th Jun 2013 14:05 by Andy Green

It should arrive before March 2014

During E3 Nintendo revealed it would be releasing its first free-to-play game by March 2014 but didn't give any details as to what game it would be other than it wouldn't be a Mario and Pokémon title due to both of these franchises' having such a positive relationship with consumers.

Nintendo has since confirmed with IGN that the upcoming free-to-play game is Steel Diver, which is certainly not as big a franchise as Mario or Pokémon.

For those who are unaware Steel Diver was a 3DS launch title and is an action-packed submarine combat game but this iteration won't just be a straight port and Shigeru Miyamoto has said the free-to-play model will inevitably change the game's design.

Nintendo has not yet specified which consoles Steel Diver will be coming to. With it having history on the 3DS the natural choice would be the handheld, but there's plenty of scope to bring it to Wii U as well.

What we do know is that multiplayer will play a big part in the game and it will feature a four-player battle mode.

The exact business model of this first free-to-play title is yet to be decided, and Nintendo is considering either using some sort of membership or micro-transaction type of fee in order to play other elements of the game. However, Miyamoto was quick to say Nintendo is looking to balance the entertainment value with various pricing models and hopes to bring more information soon.

What are your thoughts on Nintendo's first free-to-play game? Are you surprised? Sound off in the comment section below.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/06/steel_diver_will_be_nintendos_first_free_to_play_game

Do you think Steel Diver and F2P are a good fit?

It was an okay game. I spent like $10 on it new from Amazon. Just don't make series like Animal Crossing F2P. F2P model would destroy Animal Crossing. Case in point: Look at New Leaf's sales without F2P model with tons of content added to the series. I tend to say fuck F2P game model because they usually bog down the game with bullshit trying to make you want to spend money. You know what makes me spend my money. Make a fucking game worth the money. No wonder 3rd party developers are laying off and going under lately. They can't make anything that makes someone want to purchase their games new.

Anyways, this game should just be free without any additional charges.  It should have came with the 3DS for free at launch. 

I'm looking forward to seeing this...

Steel diver was bad. Even if it is free there's no way I'm spending my time on a similar mess.

Never interested me, but if it's a different game from the original it may be worth a go.

i bought it new for $5 at a best buy sale. Its fun. Alot of fun. But it should have never been higher than $15

Fantasy Life seems like better fit for F2P.

interesting, will pushmo be next?

Well, until we see how is the game we won't be able to judge it. Heck! Do we even know if it will be a MMO kind of game?

If they do a game like World of Tanks but with the submarines from Steel Diver then it could be very successful.

It's interesting that they've decided that rather than create a new fresh IP, they'd rather re-use a failed old one. Seems to be a small creativity vacuum at Nintendo at the moment.