Until now, independent studio Kobojo has made a name for itself developing free-to-play online RPGs for mobile. However, the studio has confirmed today that it is dropping its usual business model for its next game, which it’s making with Final Fantasy VII writer Kazushige Nojima and Valkyria Chronicles composer Hitoshi Sakimoto.
That game is the online RPG Zodiac: Orcanon Odyssey. Previously, it was going to be free-to-play, but due to feedback it will now be sold as a one-time purchase premium game – no free-to-play systems or microtransactions in sight.
The exact pricing of the game hasn’t been nailed down yet but it will be revealed closer to the game’s launch on iOS at the end of this year. The PC, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation Vita versions will be coming out at a later date – previously said to be early 2016.
“The heart and soul of Zodiac has always been to bring players a classic JRPG experience regardless of platform – the kind of experience that JRPG fans enjoy, and sadly, that no longer seem as common as they once were,” said Kobojo’s CEO Mario Rizzo.
“Listening to the great feedback we received after showing the game at GDC and E3, we’ve made the unprecedented decision to shift gears from Kobojo’s usual free-to-play format to make Zodiac: Orcanon Odyssey a premium game for Western audiences.”
While the game will be sold at a single price the game itself won’t be singular. Kobojo also confirmed that the “epic saga of Orcanon” will be episodically updated once it’s out. These updates are said to “add new areas to explore, release additional unlockable character classes and powers to discover, and interesting new characters to meet and exciting new challenges to reveal the secrets of this new mysterious world.”
