Fantasy MMO gets removed from sale by devs buying back the rights - so that they can take out microtransactions and effectively un-MMO their MMO

gamesradar.com:

MMO Wayfinder has been removed from sale while the developers make "major changes" to the game and its business model via the upcoming Echoes update.

Developer Airship Syndicate released its free-to-play, live service MMO Wayfinder into early access last summer with Digital Extremes on publishing duty. But Airship Syndicate has since reacquired the rights to its game and will soon relaunch it as a paid co-op RPG while removing all the microtransactions and live service fluff. 

For all owners of the Founder's Pack on Steam, Wayfinder's transformative Echoes update is soft launching on May 31. On June 11, the Echoes update goes live for all Steam players and the game resumes sale at $25. Wayfinder will then leave early access and receive a price increase this fall on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.

Nu-Wayfinder will "remove the need for online accounts, log-ins, or in-game purchases," and instead make way for offline play and optional three-player co-op. Fair warning, though, save data will have to be reset since "saves will now be local." Characters, armor sets, weapons, and other items previously offered through microtransactions will soon all be earnable in-game for no extra cost.

Games usually jump from paid releases to live service machines - see Destiny and Overwatch - so it's nice to see the river run in reverse this time. There are a boatload of other changes coming to the game's core loop too, including four more difficulty options, updated UI, randomized weapon drops, and more  - you can read the full details on the announcement blog post.

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