Those who haven’t been following Dual Universe for a long time may not realize that it’s had a subscription system in its pre-launch state for a long time – since 2020, in fact. It wasn’t a surprise, either, as the game’s Kickstarter back in 2016 said as much. Then, last year, the cost of the beta subscription was raised from around $7 to $10 (although it’s still $7 if you’re subbing a year at a time).
You need that backstory to fully understand what Novaquark announced yesterday: Dual Access Coupons – DACs. The closest cognate in the MMO space is something like EVE Plex or the WoW Token; they’re a “digital coupon that you can use to gain 30 days of subscription time or transfer to another player.” They effectively allow players to trade real money for sub time for in-game currency and back again.
“Players will interact with this first iteration of DACs on our website. You’ll be able to see an overview of your DACs and be able to redeem as many as you’d like in exchange for game time. You’ll also be able to find other players by searching for their name and transfer DACs to them, but in order to receive DACs, a player must first have an account or create one on our website. There are no limits to the amount of DACs that may be transferred from one account to another. You will also be able to view your DACs history, giving you an overview of previous transactions. […] The initial set of DACs being released has already been purchased by our Kickstarter backers through the Founder and Supporter packages. You can however receive DACs from any player who has already purchased them, for example in exchange for quanta, allowing you to buy Dual Universe game time using your in-game assets, or to gift game time to friends.”
Apparently, in the future Novaquark will be “integrating DACs into the game as an item that can be traded directly from a market.”
