Gameforge announces the European edition of Aion is going free-to-play beginning in February 2012, when players in the U.K., France, and Germany will be able to access the full game with no subscription fees, with the rest of western Europe to follow. As of now the North American website for NCsoft's MMORPG has no indications that the N.A. version of the game will be dropping subscription fees. The Aion Free-to-Play Page has details, and here's a bit:

Karlsruhe/Seoul, 14. 12. 2011 – Gameforge, Europe's leading provider of online games, and NCsoft®, the world’s premier publisher and developer of massively multiplayer online games, today announced a new and free to play business model for AION, the online role-playing game. From February 2012, players will be able to download the full version of the game for free and play without any subscription costs. AION will be launched in the UK, France and Germany first and will be accessible to play across Western Europe.

AION is one of the world’s most popular and numerous awards winning MMOGs including a very loyal fan base in Europe. Songyee Yoon, Chief Strategic Officer from NCsoft® commented that “by introducing the free-to-play model, we hope more gamers in Europe will be able to experience the epic story of Aion” and added that “NCsoft welcomes the partnership with Gameforge with its long MMO experience in the free-to-play sector and its excellent knowledge of the European market.”

Gameforge’s Executive Director Alexander Rösner also welcomes the collaboration: “In AION we have received a flagship title for our MMO sector which perfectly complements our current portfolio. We have worked hard with NCsoft® to develop a fair free-to-play model for new players as well as the current community. In the future we will of course continue to develop new content and extend it, working in close cooperation with the players.”

For detailed information about the free-to-play model visit http://www.aionfreetoplay.com