Strategy Informer  

Free-to-play games aren't some fad, they're getting bigger and now starting to nip at the heels. Xfire has stated, in a recent report, that F2P with micro-transactions are becoming mainstream among gamers.

Xfire runs a free chat and server browser client and has seen their World of Warcraft numbers tumble, while League of Legends rockets upward. The "rapid ascension" of F2P took them by surprise.

In their Q1 fiscal 2013 report, NCSoft has revealed that Guild Wars 2 has dropped significantly in sales figures, but the company is far from in trouble. A 35% drop in sales from last quarter is revealed.

However operating profit, while down 51% from last quarter, is in fact a huge 348% boost year-on-year as it hits ₩55,512 million. Last quarter held the launch for Guild Wars 2.

Trion Worlds will be releasing a major DLC pack for their action-MMO Defiance. A major patch, version 1.020 will tie the game into the SyFy show and add a "Siege" game type; however, the developers are mum on what else the patch will add.

During the Electronic Arts investor call, Frank Gibeau announced that even though subscribership in Star Wars: The Old Republic has plummeted, the revenue has doubled since it went free-to-play.

Bethesda will be letting us mere mortals toy around with The Elder Scrolls Online this August at the annual convention of Gamescom in Cologne, Germany. The studio tease more dates will be revealed soon.

Gamescom runs from August 22nd to the 25th with everyone welcome to attend once you've bought tickets. This will be TESO's first appearance at Gamescom at the Bethesda booth.

En Masse Entertainment has announced that its action-MMORPG Tera is celebrating its first anniversary, having launched on the 1st May 2012. The game recently went free-to-play and rebranded itself Tera: Rising.

The transmedia experiment that is Defiance from Trion Worlds is both MMO and TV show. In a bid to tie them closer together a competition is now running for fans to win a place on the Syfy series.

The contest runs from today, April 30th, until Friday next week, May 10th. Those looking for stardom will need to earn the most Ark salvage per hour. You must register and complete Most Wanted pursuits.

EVE Online developer CCP has been tinkering with World of Darkness, their planned MMO based on White Wolf's Vampire: The Masquerade IP. They've got 70 people working on it right now.

These past few weeks they've been focused on art tools, server-side hardware, vampire powers and social tie-ins. The rest of 2013 will go to clothing, PvE, web-based social tools and item creation.

Today is scheduled maintenance day in Star Wars: The Old Republic, which means the MMO won't be available for a few hours later today as BioWare give it a tune up. They are also releasing a patch.

The Rise of the Hutt Cartel launch brought some new-fangled things to Star Wars, and now BioWare starts tweaking them, like raising the ridiculously low cap on planetary commendations.

Perfect World has announced the pricing for the upcoming Legacy Pack that will be coming with the Legacy of Romulus expansion for Star Trek Online.