Gameloft’s Sacred Odyssey will be free, with full game as in-app purchase
‘If it's a deterrent to piracy then all the better’
Gameloft’s Zelda-inspired iPhone adventure Sacred Odyssey will be available for free when it hits the App Store at midnight.
The game acts as a trial version, and after about 15 minutes of play you’ll be asked to stump up the full cash if you want to keep playing. The upgrade to full game will cost £3.99 / $6.99 / €5.49.
This is the first time that Gameloft has tried offering the sample and premium versions of the game in a single app. The new business model, Gameloft says, allows the publisher to, “adopt a new form of freemium model that is becoming increasingly popular amongst game developers and consumers alike.”
We asked Gameloft if the move was to deter piracy, as in-app purchases are harder (if not, impossible) to download illegally. “If it's a deterrent to piracy then all the better,” the publisher told us, but it’s not the main reason for the new business model.
Sacred Odyssey: Rise of Ayden is a swashbuckling fantasy epic with monstrous baddies, snowy peaks, mysterious new races and horse riding. It’s out on iPhone, iPod touch and iPad, tomorrow.
