Dragon’s Dogma Online will be free-to-play with micro-transactions

In the beginning of the month it was reported that Capcom had filed a trademarked for Dragon's Dogma Online in Japan and in the United States. At the time, we had no idea what was coming other than the fact that it was related to Dragon's Dogma.

Since, the original trademark filing in December and the report in the beginning of January, details have emerged.

Famitsu, the Japanese video game magazine, had the opportunity to interview Dragon's Dogma Online's producer Matsukawa and director Kinoshita. In short, Dragon's Dogma Online will be a free-to-play action game with micro-transactions for items on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PC.

The story in Dragon's Dogma Online will have you taking the role of an 'Awakened' in the land of Lestaria. You will be able to play in four-player parties or with three AI pawns. If you choose to play with other players in your party, you will be free to chat, form parties and spend time in a town lobby with up to 100 other players.

The jobs you will be able to take on (that have been confirmed) are Fighter, Hunter, Priest, and Shield Sage. You can switch your job as you see fit (as well as your pawn's jobs).

Dragon’s Dogma Online will be similar to Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen when it comes to combat. Character creation in the Online version has been upgraded. There are more editable features and the ability for in-game crafting has been implemented.

Producer Matsukawa and director Kinoshita wanted to share some key elements with Famitsu and we didn't want to keep you from them – check them out below"

• Development started with the basic desire of taking Dragon’s Dogma and making it playable in an online environment.
• The game couldn’t be made in tandem with Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen and was therefore pushed back.
• Capcom contemplated a monthly fee, but chose free-to-play in the end in an attempt to get more players to try it out.
• Though paid items are present, the game will still feel like a proper Dragon’s Dogma game.
• The story is completely new and there are no character connections [to previous Dragon's Dogma games].
• The game world will initially be the size of what players have come to expect from previous games, but will expand over time to be three times larger in scope.
• Parties are formed in the lobby, after which players depart for the field.
• An effort has been made to emphasize the strengths and traits of individual classes, but it’s not balanced so strictly that players need to be super meticulous about party makeup.

[Gematsu]