Epic Games has announced that its third person shooter MOBA Paragon will be entering early access on the 18th March. Players will be able to buy Founder’s Packs four days earlier on the 14th March to gain access. However, the full release won’t require purchases of any sort.
The Founder’s Packs that will be available include the base Pack, which costs $19.99. Aside from gaining early access, the Pack includes skins, boosts, and other cosmetic items. The Challenger Pack ($59.99) and Master Pack ($99.99) will include even more skins, unlockable items, and boosts, as well as a unique skin, and a Founder’s Pack to give to a friend.
The studio reassures gamers, however, that nothing in the Packs can’t be unlocked through normal gameplay.
“Paragon is designed so that all players can compete and win without ever having to spend money. All Heroes are free, and cards can only be earned by playing the game. The game will never be pay-to-win, meaning we will never sell gameplay-affecting items.” said the game’s creative director Steve Superville.
Players who don’t want to pay to get into the early access program can sign up for the Beta at Paragon.com to jump in this coming Summer 2016.
Here’s some more information that was included within the press release sent to GameWatcher this morning:
All Heroes Free, All Cards Earned By Playing
Paragon is designed so that all players can compete and win without ever having to spend money. All Heroes are free, and cards can only be earned by playing the game. The game will never be pay-to-win, meaning we will never sell gameplay-affecting items. We will sell cosmetic items (skins, emotes), boosts and other convenience items, along with Paid Early Access. We’re taking this approach because we believe that competitive games need to be fair for all players.
Why Early Access and Founder’s Packs?
Paragon is still in development. The game is missing features, and some of the content is placeholder. We don’t yet have a lot of features to make it easier to understand for new players, and some systems (for example: cards and deck building) require a lot of patience.
Yet, we really want gamers to be able to opt-in and be here with us from the start, to give feedback and help shape the game. As a way of saying thanks, we’re trying to make Founder’s Packs an insanely good value. If you’re interested in Paragon, buying a Founder’s Pack will get you in-game content at a huge discount from normal prices. During the Early Access Season, we’ll release new (free!) Heroes every three weeks, hold community events, and offer daily and weekly rewards.
Founder’s Packs will cost $19.99, and include access to the game, skins, boosts, and other cosmetic items you can unlock by playing. Challenger Packs ($59.99) and Master Packs ($99.99) will include a huge number of skins, unlockable items, boosts, a unique skin, and a Founder’s Pack to give to a friend. We’ll be sharing complete details soon.</i>
