Eve Online gets a free-to-play option a mere 13 years after its original release

Eve Online is about to open up its complex universe.

Developer CCP Games announced today that its massively multiplayer online space game will have a free-to-play option once November’s unnamed expansion releases. Eve Online originally came out in 2003 and earned a punishing reputation for its complex economy and high difficulty. Many MMOs from that era (if they’re even still around) went free-to-play long ago, with World of Warcraft being one of the few exceptions that stuck with a subscription model (although even that market leader eventually let anyone play to level 20 for free).