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Every new map and gameplay mode in Uncharted 4: A Thief's End's multiplayer will be offered to all players for free, Naughty Dog announced this morning on the PlayStation Blog.
The post highlights Naughty Dog's two-pronged plan for multiplayer in the PlayStation 4 game, which will launch May 10. Essentially, all maps and game types will be playable by all, while vanity and gameplay items (such as weapons) can be unlockable with an in-game currency, Relics, acquired through regular play.
Currency can also be acquired for real money, which buys "Uncharted Points." Uncharted Points are included as a premium in some special editions of the game. Naughty Dog said no item is available exclusively through Uncharted Points so, with enough gameplay, everything can be acquired for free.
The free content updates, such as new maps, modes and items will be made available to all players on the same day. Naughty Dog said free multiplayer updates are planned seasonally through at least spring 2017 and will add co-operative play, new items, weapons, loadouts, skins and more.
Also forthcoming is the Cinema Replay feature, allowing players to save and share multiplayer gameplay footage.
New content through next spring
The news that the game won't have paid DLC slightly differs from what Cogburn said in October, when he confirmed that Uncharted 4 will include microtransactions at launch. Although he claimed that gameplay items won't be "gated through microtransactions," the designer said that other weapons and upgrades will be available at a price.
Much more information about the multiplayer modes available at launch in Uncharted 4 can be seen on the PlayStation Blog. A roadmap outlining four content updates through Spring 2017 also can be seen there.
Previously, games like Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception included microtransactions within their multiplayer modes, requiring players to dole out cash in order to unlock all the content. Uncharted 3 had a separate free-to-play version of its multiplayer mode, making the basic gameplay free to all. Accessing the full content came at a cost, however.
Uncharted 4: A Thief's End, including several multiplayer options and a single-player campaign, will hit retail May 10 after several delays — although, thanks to a stolen shipment, some players in the U.K. got their hands on the game two weeks early.
