Monthly subscriptions confirmed for WildStar

WildStar developer Carbine Studios is willing to bet the world's ready for another subscription-based MMORPG. Carbine and publisher NCsoft today announced that the online game will use a traditional subscription model with a play-to-pay option available for enterprising players.

Beyond 30 days of subscription time included with the initial $60 purchase, players will need to keep their game time topped off with monthly charges, game cards, or C.R.E.D.D. (Certificate of Research, Exploration, Destruction, and Development).

If you're familiar with EVE Online's PLEX currency, you already know how C.R.E.D.D. works: players can purchase it with in-game cash at prices set by other players, or just buy C.R.E.D.D. directly from Carbine for $20. Each unit can be used for 30 extra days of play time or sold off on the commodities exchange.

"What this does is, it lets the free market, this commodities exchange, really be the way that people can trade their time for money with other players," executive producer Jeremy Gaffney said in a developer roundtable. "Because some people are time rich, and some people are cash rich."

Subscriptions start at $15 per month, or less for longer commitments, if that all sounds like too much of a second job.