DC Universe Online is a free-to-play MMO (massively multiplayer online game) originally released on January 11, 2011 by developer Daybreak Game Company (then known as Sony Online Entertainment). The game provides the staples of MMO gaming, a genre known and loved for collecting large groups of players together and allowing them to interact and socialize in vast game worlds. In DC Universe Online players can create a highly customizable superhero or supervillain who will interact with other players, as well as many different characters from the DC Universe, as the name implies. After becoming a member of either the Justice League or The Society, players will battle and level their way through content, becoming stronger and experiencing the game’s comic book plot.
Members of Daybreak have teased and hinted that the game could be coming to Xbox family of platforms after only being available on PC, PS3, and PS4, but no official information had released over the years. That changed yesterday when Daybreak Game Company announced that DCUO is finally coming to Xbox One.
The announcement comes on the heels of the game’s fifth anniversary, and Xbox One players should expect the title to hit their systems sometime this spring. Just like for the platforms it’s already accessible on, DC Universe Online will be entirely free-to-play with no required subscription. Like most MMOs, the game is monetized through optional microtransactions where players can pay for additional content or auxiliary features. It isn’t expected that players will be able to transfer their progress between platforms, although no decision on that is official as of yet. That’s a deal breaker for anyone who already plays DCUO on another system. It’s also unknown if the game with support cross-platform play for Xbox One players. Currently the PlayStation 3 and PlayStation 4 are cross-platform and that feature is coming January 25, 2016 between the PS family and PC. Logic would dicate that it would make sense for this to expand to Xbox One players as well, but Microsoft is notoriously reluctant to open this sort of sharing, something that’s going to negatively affect the Xbox One version of Rocket League (which otherwise works between PS4 and PC players) just as it did Portal 2 on the last generation of consoles.
The timing for the DCUO release within the Xbox family may seem odd considering the game’s age, but looking back on Daybreak and DC Universe Online’s history sheds some light on the delayed release. Daybreak was once Sony Online Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation. Sony, being one of Microsoft’s biggest rivals, would obviously not allow the game to come to Xbox upon its original release. Once they sold Sony Online Entertainment to Columbus Nova early last year, however, the company rebranded as Daybreak Game Company and was free to do its own bidding. The company was quick to expand, and barely over a year later is delivering the game to a Microsoft platform. This will be the company’s first delivery of a game to a platform other than PlayStation or PC.
It’s official! We’re coming to #XboxOne this Spring! @Xbox #DCUO5Years— DC Universe Online (@DCUO) January 11, 2016
It’s never a bad thing for consumers when a game loses exclusivity and breaches onto other platforms. It’s even better for console gamers when an MMO becomes available on their living room systems, a rarity for a genre dominated by the PC platform. Despite the game’s age, many Xbox One gamers have been vocal about their interest in having DC Universe Online available and now that’s exactly what they’re getting.
Hopefully the game becomes popular among Xbox gamers and isn’t ignored for its age. It’s possible a five-year old game may not attract enough new eyes to make this platform release worth it for developer Daybreak Game Company, especially if its relegated to servers exclusive for Xbox One players.
Other exciting DCUO updates for players include more customization thanks to a fourth color palette being added to the game, alongside a new powerset based on Water, Hydrokinetics (Hard Water Constructs, inspired by characters like Aqualad) and Tide-Calling (Waterbending, inspired by characters like Mera). The next chunk story-based game content, Episode 21, is based on the upcoming CW series, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow.
Source: Daybreak
