InselGames announces Trinium Wars is now free-to-play on Steam, with the MMORPG retaining the early access label. Here's word from InselGames CEO Patrick Streppel on the game's new business model:

We wanted to inform you short & sweet that as of now our Sci Fi MMORPG Trinium Wars is officially Free2Play.

We have thought long and hard about this major change and while we always kept the business model open in our Early Access FAQ, we were not sure of this until recently. While we had hoped that TW could be sustainable both financially and population-wise in a Buy-to-Play model, it turned out that just to many of you have waited to buy the title (even with the recent discount) or outright neglected it until it is Free-to-Play. In reviews, forum posts and our recent survey we were asked to switch to a free version and we have listened. From now on the basic game will be available for free while we are still selling the Deluxe and Collector's Editions that contain valuable items and in-game currency.

We hope this change will bring a lot of new players into the game to enjoy the Battleground and Resource War with!