Is Corepunk Free-to-Play or Buy-to-Play? | Corepunk Business Model Revealed

The Corepunk reveal was a pleasant surprise, showing us a top-down MMORPG with an original aesthetic. Or should I say, a mix of aesthetics that included cyberpunk, steampunk, and others, forming a world that is more than the sum of its parts. The first game from Dutch outfit Artificial Core, it left many players excited with its mix of League of Legends and Diablo. The promise of an open beta by the end of 2020 is something that many gamers are looking forward to, but one question was left unanswered for quite a few months: Is Corepunk Free-to-Play or Buy-to-Play? The developers kept this decision close to their chests, but always communicated the goal of having a fair game, being completely against pay-to-win schemes.

Is Corepunk Free-to-Play or Buy-to-Play? | Is Corepunk Using a Subscription Model?

In the Q1 2020 blog post, Corepunk developer Eugene revealed a few interesting details about different areas of the game. One of the highlights is the removal of a gender lock, or rather, the addition of male and female counterparts that can be customized in features such as hairstyles and facial features.

The first Corepunk closed beta date reveal shouldn't be too far away, and Artificial Core is planning on having six heroes ready for you to choose.

Moving on to the subject of the Corepunk business model, the official announcement makes it perfectly clear:

“One of the most popular requests was on game’s business model. We’ve settled on Buy-to-play + cosmetics (battle passes, in-game shop).”

So, that's settled then. The devs continue and justify their choice with the following:

“From day one having a fair game was our top priority. On the other hand maintaining game servers and supporting players takes a lot of effort and isn’t cheap. So we were looking for a fair option that will make it work. We will not sell any boosters. Nothing that can affect your gameplay. Only cosmetic items can be bought through in-game shop or achieved with battle passes. Having monthly subscription probably would’ve been the most fair type of business model for an MMO, perhaps we would not have to bother about in-game shop at all. But not many MMO’s can survive on subscription these days, so we decided to go for buy-to-play model.”

Their reasoning isn't wrong, but as always we have to stand by our belief that any good MMORPG works with a well implemented free-to-play model. Corepunk is buy-to-play, so let's see if it manages to be successful and fair to players.