Xbox One gets its first free-to-play MMO

Free-to-play game company Perfect World is planning to launch Cryptic Studios' Neverwinter PC MMORPG on Xbox One later this year in China, then roll it out to consoles in North America and Europe in 2015. Neverwinter won't be the first free-to-play console MMORPG (Sony Online Entertainment's DC Universe Online went free-to-play on both PC and PSN back in 2011) but it will be the first Perfect World MMORPG to come to consoles. "We are excited and honored to be among the first publishers in China bringing games to Xbox One,” said Perfect World CEO Robert Xiao in a press release announcing the details of the Xbox One's Chinese debut. "For the six months following Xbox One’s launch [in China], Neverwinter Online will be available only on Xbox One," though players will still need an active Xbox Live Gold subscription to play. Perfect World has not ruled out the possibility of bringing Neverwinter to other platforms, and the Shanghai-based company is known to be working on additional titles for the Chinese Xbox One.