The Pirates of the Burning Sea Website announces the launch of the Power & Prestige expansion for the seafaring MMORPG. Here's word on that: "This is our first full expansion and it contains a lot of changes. You can find the full release notes here. We have also created a couple of guides about Port Governance in our brand new wiki, Encyclopaedia Piratica, and we’ll be publishing new guides and content on a regular basis." They also announce that this fall the game will be going free-to-play. Here's a bit:

Second, it allows players to spend as little or as much as they like. With a subscription, there’s only one price, whether you like to log in occasionally on the weekends to do a few missions with friends, or if you’re the kind of player who calls in to work sick to make sure you’re ready for an important port battle. The more fun the game is, the better the model works, which is why we think Pirates of the Burning Sea is perfect for F2P.

Finally, in the modern MMO environment, players often rotate through several games that they’re engaged in. With a subscription, it’s a hassle to cancel and then re-subscribe as they move back and forth between games. With F2P, players can play the games they want to play right that moment without having to keep in mind what they committed to weeks or months ago. F2P is a win for the player, and it’s a win for a more diverse MMO community.