Skip to main content

Funcom to refresh ‘Secret World’ as free-to-play ‘Secret World Legends’

Secret World Legends - Teaser Trailer
Funcom’s Lovecraftian MMO Secret World is set to be rereleased this spring as Secret World Legends, with new combat mechanics, a new progression system, and updated visuals. All of the original game’s content will be there, but updated and tweaked to be more intuitive and with an improved early game for new players.

The Secret World is one of those massively multiplayer online games that probably should have been more popular. It featured strong storytelling and interesting game mechanics, but struggled to find a large player base, some claim because of a problematic combat system and a few irritating bugs.

Funcom clearly has faith in its five-year-old game, though, as it’s re-releasing it with a fresh coat of paint and a few major tweaks to its gameplay. It maintains the same setting and story of its original, though with the many DLC packs released after the original Secret World.

The big changes, we’re told, come in the form of a revamped combat system, which is said to be much more contemporary in design, as well as feeling more “natural,” and easy to pick up for new players. Quest flow is also said to be much improved.

Perhaps the biggest change though is that the game will be entirely free. All in-game content will be playable, whether it’s already been released or will be in the future. In-game micro-transactions will focus on quality-of-life changes like extra inventory slots or vanity items.

Although the game is being built to be more accessible to new players, older players may not be so pleased with the announced changes. All story progression will be lost when moving over to the new game, but that’s not a necessity. Original Secret World servers will continue to run for those who want to continue playing the older game.

If players do come over to the new game, vanity items like pets, mounts and vehicles can come, too. There are also benefits for bringing over your subscriber account. Funcom tells us that more information about the transfer will be available in the future.

While we await more details about Secret World Legends ahead of its spring launch, a closed beta is coming in the near future, with Funcom currently looking for signups through its official site.

Editors' Recommendations

Jon Martindale
Jon Martindale is the Evergreen Coordinator for Computing, overseeing a team of writers addressing all the latest how to…
League of Legends fighting game will be free-to-play
Jinx and Echo fight in League of Legends fighting game Project L.

Riot Games and Radiant Entertainment released a video about Project L, the League of Legends fighting game they are hard at work on, ahead of the global fighting game tournament, Evo. The most significant thing announced during this August 2021 update is that Project L is a free-to-play game.

/dev: The Latest on Project L | dev diary - Project L

Read more
New World is free to play this weekend. Here’s how to play
Two players fighting in New World.

Anyone who's been thinking about sinking tens of hundreds of hours into Amazon's MMO, New World, can give the game a test drive starting today on Steam. Amazon Game Studios is hosting a free weekend for New World, letting players try the game out for a limited time and keep their progress if they decide to buy in.

New World's Steam free weekend started today at 10 a.m. PT and will continue through April 11 at 10 a.m. PT. According to a FAQ for the game's Steam free weekend, players won't be limited in the content they can access. The entirety of New World will be available over the course of the next five days to anyone who wants to see what it's all about via Steam. Players that pick up the game during this time period will also carry all of the progress they make over if they decide to purchase it after the free weekend ends.

Read more
What are space-time distortions in Pokémon Legends: Arceus?
A space-time distortion appearing.

Without giving anything away for anyone who hasn't booted up Pokémon Legends: Arceus yet, let's just say that this game starts playing with some crazy elements before you even begin your journey proper. We all knew this game would be very different from past titles from the trailers, including the choice to set this game in the distant past of the Pokémon universe, along with the more obvious changes to gameplay and structure. However, being set in the past isn't just a narrative set dressing that doesn't impact the gameplay. Strange new events will pop up during your adventure that you need to be aware of.

Space-time distortions are as mysterious in the game as they sound. These events aren't very well explained by the game, and if and when you happen to see one, it might scare you off of investigating it. Based on the name and how they look, we wouldn't blame you for wanting to steer clear of these intimidating zones. However, once you understand them, you may end up wanting to hunt them down. We may not be astrophysicists, but we can tell you everything you need to know about space-time distortions in Pokémon Legends: Arceus.

Read more