Akaneiro free-to-play plans shelved in favour of cover charge

Akaneiro, the latest from American McGee's Spicy Horse, will buck industry trend by abandoning free-to-play for a more traditional business model.

Spicy Horse's changing plans were revealed in a couple of posts on the forums for the dark, Japanese-inspired action RPG take on the story of Red Riding Hood.

"We're switching to a paid model," a representative confirmed in late November.

A later post confirmed a few details, noting that the game won't use a subscription payment model. There will be a one-off cover charge, and Spicy Horse will release regular premium DLC expansion packs. It's also considering introducing in-game purchases, as long as nothing "disrupts or restricts regular play".

"The pricepoint will be very low. This is an indepedent release from a smaller development team - we won't be pricing it like Diablo or even Torchlight," the developer confirmed.

Although Spicy Horse had intended to reveal full details of its release plan - including pricing, features, content and expansion roadmap - within a week of the original post, it doesn't seem to have followed through. The official FAQ still makes mention of pricing to be announced in the near future.

A planned Kickstarter has also apparently been pushed back, although potential players can donate directly to Spicy Horse elsewhere, earning beta access, various other as yet undetailed rewards, and potentially what amounts to a pre-order of the full release.

Akaneiro is attempting to secure a Steam release via Greenlight. It's expected on Android Tablets, Mac and PC as well as in-browser. It's currently in beta.

Thanks, Gamesta.