Embers Adrift MMORPG Switching to Optional Subscription

Embers Adrift is a low fantasy group based PvE MMORPG developed by Stormhaven Studios and launched in October last year. It has been a buy-to-play MMORPG which also required a monthly subscription. There is no in-game shop to spend other currency like most MMORPG’s have these days, and the levelling experience is quite challenging. This week they announced that they are always listening to communtity feedback. A resounding request in Discord has been for there to be a sub-free option and that will become a reality at the end of June 2023. The game will remain buy-to play, and the subscription will become optional.

“Community has always been a main pillar of our game design and a core focus in our operation as a game studio. We will always do what we believe is best for the community. With that in mind we are excited to announce that we are adding an additional tier of access to our MMORPG, Embers Adrift. At the end of June 2023 all players who have purchased Embers Adrift (past, present, or future) will be able to play an active character through all the content in the game without a subscription. Subscribers who choose to support us with their monthly subscription of US$9.99 will be given additional perks to enjoy.”

In my first impressions article, I explained that Embers Adrift is highly focused on grouping and community engagement. If you are a strictly solo player, this is likely going to be difficult to recommend if you are comparing it to most solo-friendly MMORPGs on the market today. You can play Embers Adrift solo, but it is very slow going, especially when you start to upgrade your gear that requires you to interact with people via the trade channel and trading in person. I created a supporter class at launch and stopped playing before my first 30-day subscription was up for renewal, not for lack of enjoyment but because I have so many other games to review.

I jumped back into the game over the weekend where Stormhaven offered a free play weekend, and finally got level 6 and chose the Sentinel specialisation for my character, allowing me to heal and buff myself and allies. I was pleased to see the game running better visually performance-wise and there were still people running around the first Newhaven Valley zone for level 1-6 players. I am a stickler for completing all quests in my journal in MMORPGs, to my own detriment most of the time. I have quests like ‘The Missing Apprentice’ still in my journal, but for my sanity, and now that I am a level 6 Sentinel, I can move into the next and not be rofl-stomped by mobs.

If you choose not to subscribe to the game, you will have some restrictions on your account such as being limited to one active character, reduced storage and more. Having one active character for a ‘free play’ account isn’t uncommon in MMORPGs, even Star Wars: The Old Republic limits you to a couple of active characters without a subscription. It is not clear whether we can change which character is active or if we choose once and we’re stuck with that one. We’ll find more as the patch date gets closer near the end of this month.

You can read more about the game over at the official website and purchase the game through there.