It’s been a terribly long time since we checked in on Creativerse, a cutesy multiplayer voxelbox that launched out of early access way back in 2017, and quite a lot has happened in that time – including a major overhaul of the game’s monetization. Unlike a lot of MMOs, this one didn’t go free-to-play; it’s just left free-to-play behind for good.
Back in October of last year, studio Playful Corp. admitted that while the game has been relatively successful with a solid playerbase and “consistent monthly revenue,” it’s also never been profitable, spending more than it brought in to the company. The only exception was early on in the game’s lifespan when it was pay-to-access, and so the team decided to return to that, essentially crafting a “pay-once-play-forever game” version dubbed Creativerse: The Definitive Edition, with “all the free-to-play elements removed” including the cash shop, plus the addition of new customization, player-hosted multiplayer worlds, in-game mail, visual improvements, and gobs of mechanical upgrades.
As of December 6th, the new version went live. Existing players who’d already purchased something from the game received the version free, while new players will be asked for a flat $24.99 fee. In fact, there’s a rather confusing option to snag free copies for your friends if you’re already a paying customer. Do note that players have a few more weeks (until April 6th) to migrate their worlds from the official servers to their own PCs and private servers, but once you do, you’ll own the game – and your stuff in it – forever.
