A couple weeks ago, GamersFirst announced that it has officially acquired Fallen Earth and will be switching the game to a hybrid free-to-play model during the fourth quarter of this year. The company kicked off a new dev blog to keep players informed on upcoming changes, and the second entry was just posted. This one features Senior Game Designer Marie Croall discussing upcoming content.

Croall's major topic of discussion is the Alpha County patch, which is scheduled to launch on July 6. This major update raises the level cap to 55, introduces new recipes and gear, missions, crits, a new conflict town, and progress towns.

As far as the future development calendar is concerned, the team will focus on improving three main areas: socialization, fast travel and the new player experience. They will also be implementing some major dynamic features with world events and Faction Territory Control.

Due to popular demand, a Full Respec Injector has been added to the Fallen Earth Store for $14. GamersFirst and the Fallen Earth team decided to allow it since everyone will still get one for free when combat changes go live. A perfume that will reset your faction has also been added to the store for $9.

GamersFirst has officially acquired Fallen Earth and will be switching the game to a hybrid free-to-play model during the fourth quarter of this year. This news shouldn't come as much of a surprise since Fallen Earth announced a couple weeks ago that it had teamed up with GamersFirst "in order to continue the game's ongoing support and sort of improve its development costs."

So what will the free-to-play model look like for Fallen Earth? Massively got the details during a conference call with GamersFirst and Fallen Earth representatives, and it looks like the game will have four tiers: free, silver, gold and VIP. The subscriptions tiers will vary in price and offer numerous perks, such as enhanced exp gain and reward points that will allow you to purchase items in the store. The top tier will allow players to share their bonuses with everyone in their party.

According to a press release, current subscribers who maintain their subscriptions through the estimated five-month transition period will collect significant rewards when the game completes the transition. The current 12-person creative team behind Fallen Earth, headed by Lead Game Designer Marie “Aro Sei” Croall, will remain intact and join GamersFirst’s development studio Reloaded Productions.

UPDATE: GamersFirst has kicked off a new Fallen Earth developer blog, and the first installment focuses on the free-to-play switch.

When the Fallen Earth team announced last week that it was partnering with GamersFirst, players immediately began to wonder if the post-apocalyptic MMO will be going free-to-play. After all, GamersFirst is a F2P portal that recently transitioned APB: Reloaded to the free format.

Massively got the chance to speak with GamersFirst's Darek Connole at E3 about the possible payment changes coming to the game. While he didn't give any concrete details, it seems clear that they're strongly considering a switch from the subscription model.

"Free-to-play is on the table. It's not something I can confirm; it's not something that I can deny. But we're talking about all kinds of options. ... It's a huge consideration because the game does already lend itself. It has an in-game store, and it already has a subscription model that has more of a premium model than a typical subscription base, so it is something we're looking at. However, we also have to balance the current game and the current game systems."

Connole also stated that they're looking at "tiered sub models," and emphasized that they're not doing things like "leased weapons and pay-to-win." He said they hope to have their plans narrowed down in a week or two.

Fallen Earth Senior Game Designer Marie “Aro Sei” Croall announced yesterday during a pair of live Ustream chats that Fallen Earth LLC is teaming up with GamersFirst "in order to continue the game's ongoing support and sort of improve its development costs." She said this partnership will make it easier for the development team to concentrate on adding new features to the game instead of worrying about server support structure, and it should hopefully bring new players to Fallen Earth.

GamersFirst is the company that brought APB: Reloaded back to life as a free-to-play MMO. Their focus is on free-to-play games, so does that mean Fallen Earth will abandon its subscription fee? Croall hinted that it might be a possibility in the future:

"We're always looking for new business models outside of subscriptions. You all know we have the cash shop. This is not a change that we're going to be making immediately. Really, it's not something we've actually gone into a lot of detail on. The major thing here is that we are transitioning our servers and working on our hardware and solidifying that aspect. That's the main point of our teaming up with GamersFirst right now. This is a change that will keep the game sustainable and we're going to be able to add a lot of players to the community by doing this."

Are you prepared for a "major" Fallen Earth announcement? If you want the details, you'll have to tune into the live Ustream Fireside Chats that will be held on Tuesday, May 31 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. EDT. Senior Game Designer Marie “Aro Sei” Croall will be there to discuss the state of the game with players.

So what do you think the Fallen Earth team has in store for the game? Will the game be going free-to-play, or do they have something else hidden up their sleeve? We'll certainly be watching the Fallen Earth Ustream channel on Tuesday to find out!

If you've ever wanted to be part of Fallen Earth's Decontamination Team, now's your chance to apply in the revamped program. If you're not familiar with the group, here's the description:

"As a Decontamination Team Volunteer, players will assist the Fallen Earth dev team in ensuring all releases are bug-free, exploits are quickly identified and excluded and any other problems are eradicated prior to release patches. As a Decontamination Team Volunteer you will not only have the opportunity to work with the dev team to ensure quality game play, but will earn bonus Reward Points for your assistance in making the wasteland a great place to live!"

Check out the announcement for details on how to register for the Decontamination Team.

Fallen Earth Senior Game Designer Marie “Aro Sei” Croall has written her latest State of the Game address, and this one focuses on the progress towns and combat revisions that will hit the PTS on Wednesday, May 4.

Once Alpha County is finished, Croall said the team will be focused on an objective system that will allow them to implement world events. You can read all the details after the jump.

Fallen Earth has released their April State of the Game and this time around they are amped up to share details about the upcoming Alpha County update. The newest State of the Game is full of behind the scenes screenshots of what the devs have been working on.

"The lore in Alpha is pretty big, big enough to require rethinking how we approach art and content. When art and content first sat down and planned out The Grainway, we knew where we wanted to go, but we didn’t have the tools needed to develop the county artistically the way the story called for. Every patch we’ve released to date has brought us one step closer to making Alpha County possible."

Check out all the new screenshots and the full State of the Game over at the official Fallen Earth site.

The band Kataklysm recently stopped by the Fallen Earth dev studio to answer fan questions on the game's Nuclear Blast Radio. NBR is an all metal in-game radio station.

Wastelanders can stop by Boneclaw's local bunker bar (waypoint 3993292, 3255270) to grab a drink, play some slots, socialize, and get down to the latest in heavy metal from Nuclear Blast.

The interview is currently up on the Fallen Earth NBR official site along with a current playlist of all the music you can hear in-game.

Do you want the chance to earn some free Fallen Earth swag straight from the developers? All you need to do is "like" the game's Facebook page and you'll be entered to win prizes like in-game items, Customer Reward Points and more.

The development team will be randomly selecting winners this week. Good luck earning some post-apocalyptic gear!