EverQuest going free-to-play this Spring

Last year there was a mass exodus of sorts away from the MMO subscription model to free-to-play, with just about every major MMO released over the past several years making the switch–or so it seemed, at least.

Now, the MMO that started the craze, EverQuest, will be joining in. Sony Online Entertainment announced today that, as of March of this year, EverQuest will go entirely free-to-play, just in time for its 13th birthday.

“I’m happy to announce that in early March 2012, EverQuest will be going free-to-play,” EverQuest producer Thom Terrazas.

“EverQuest players are some of the most loyal, long-standing players of any MMO in existence. With the gaming landscape changing every day, we want to ensure we continue to evolve the game to keep players engaged and bring in even more new players to further expand the community. With no up-front costs or required membership, we might see a new player or two along the way, and more people is always a good thing!”

The news comes a month after the game’s successor, EverQuest II, was announced to be going free-to-play. Also like its successor, once EverQuest goes free-to-play SOE will be introducing a “tiered” membership system. Free members have access to the base game and all 17 (!!) expansions, but are limited to four races, four classes, and so on.

For more information on how EverQuest‘s tiered membership will work, you can head over to this link.