Atlas Reactor goes back to free-to-play of sorts

We can't say we weren't expecting this, but so soon? After ditching the free-to-play model to go buy-to-play in May, Trion Worlds has just announced that Atlas Reactor will include a free mode starting August 9.

So, what is this Free Mode? Honestly, it's pretty much free-to-play in all but name, bar a thing or two.

The Free Mode makes the game free for everyone with a weekly free rotation of the Freelancers (characters), which is unique per player. Playing gets you reward caches, where you can find “hundreds of cosmetic banners, icons, emotes, titles, skins, styles, taunts, and more”. However, Free Mode players have a limit on how frequently they can open a cache. Buying Atlas Reactor for the current $19.99 price tag unlocks all the Freelancers, removes this cache limitation, enables custom and ranked games, and allows entry in future tournaments.

So, you can try Atlas Reactor for free and play as much as you want, but if you want to go competitive you'll have to purchase the game.