The Secret World has dropped its subscription and purchasing the client will now provide access to all existing content, with no ongoing fees. Ahead of the announcement, I spoke to game director Joel Bylos and Funcom’s director of communications Erling Ellingsen to find out what this means for the future and why the decision has been made now. Can players still expect regular updates and how do the team hope to make the new model profitable? We also talk about the shadow cast by Guild Wars 2 and Blizzard, and the future of subscription-based MMOs.

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