Upcoming PS3-exclusive MMO first-person shooter Dust 514 doesn’t have a release date quite yet, but it is going to be free to download and play. Developer CCP recently announced to Eurogamer that their massively online first-person shooter set in the Eve Online universe will be free to download on PSN.

Originally slated to have a price somewhere from $10 to $20, instead CCP is offering the game for free, with in-game purchases being the primary source of funding. However, executive producer Brandon Laurino is adamant in his stance that those purchases won’t be necessary in order to be successful.

 “It’s very important as we take steps into this topic to unambiguously state that it is not a pay to win game. There is no micro-transaction that you can do that gives you an unfair advantage over someone who hasn’t paid anything. It’s the classic micro-transaction dynamic of, ‘I can pay and get this item,’ or, ‘I can invest my time and get this item.’ But neither of those options will give me an unfair advantage over the other.” 

Players will be able to buy currency bundles anywhere from $1 to $100, which can go towards the purchase of things like cosmetic changes, character re-specs, and variants of weapons that are supposedly not stronger than their freely available counterparts. While maps won’t be available for purchase, Laurino told Eurogamer that all of the maps would be available for players who choose not to spend money.

Hit the jump for information on the Vita version of Dust 514.

Laurino also told Eurogamer that the Vita version of the game isn’t actually going to be a game at all. Instead, Dust 514 on the Vita is releasing as a companion application to the Playstation 3 version of the game, where players can buy things, customize characters, and talk to friends and clan mates, all on the go. Laurino hinted that the app will be updated constantly with increased functionality; however, whether one of those upgrades is going to include actual gameplay remains to be seen.

Neither version of Dust 514 has a firm release date just yet, but Laurino stated that the game will be available sometime this year.

Discuss:

Do you think the microtransaction model can support Dust 514 or does the game need a retail price to succeed?

[Via Eurogamer 1, 2]