Vanguard going free-to-play this summer, beefs up dev team

With Sony Online Entertainment's heavy free-to-play push these past couple of years, Vanguard players hoped that they would not be overlooked by their digital overlord. Breathe easier, heroes, for this summer will bring thee and thine a F2P Vanguard -- and a big push for further game development!

While specifics about the F2P conversion are hazy at the moment, SOE says that players should look to its work with previous MMO F2P adaptations (such as the recently relaunched EverQuest) for an idea how things will go down in Vanguard town.

It's not just going to be a token change for this mostly forgotten title; SOE says that it has assembled a new team of Vanguard-loving devs to generate more frequent updates, including "general improvements and new content." The game's previous update was this past December. Coming on board to shape the future of the game are Director of Development Andy Sites, Creative Director Salim Grant, and Technical Director Todd Schmidt.

The announcement concludes with a promise for team spotlights, more information on F2P, and development discussion to come in the near future.