Update: Unfortunately, the free-to-play transition isn't a sign that Nexon is hoping to revive LawBreakers, but simply a way to soften the blow of its looming closure. "In light of the unfortunate news regarding Boss Key Productions shutting down, we regret to announce that we will be sunsetting our support of LawBreakers on September 14, 2018 as we are not able to operate the game," Nexon said in a statement.
"Our servers will remain open until then and the game will be made free-to-play on Steam for all players effective immediately. Please note that any and all new in-game purchases will also be disabled and we will not be able to accept any refund requests."
Original story:
With no fanfare, or even the slightest indication at all that it was going to happen, Boss Key Studio's arena FPS LawBreakers has gone free-to-play Steam.
The change is unexpected in part because studio founder Cliff Bleszinski closed developer Boss Key Productions last month. But while that spelled the end of Radical Heights, LawBreakers, which is published by Nexon, can keep the lights on for as long as it likes. (Except, as now noted above, it's not going to.)
Nexon hasn't commented on the change as of yet but it wouldn't be unreasonable for it to try rebuilding LawBreakers as a free-to-play title. It's a complete game, after all, and let's not forget it was originally intended to be free-to-play in the first place. The changeover to premium pricing happened so long ago that it's not directly relevant to the current situation, but you can imagine the recriminations that will fly if Nexon is able to make this work.
I've reached out to Nexon to ask about the change and will update if I receive a reply. In the meantime, if you've been waiting for a no-risk opportunity to try LawBreakers (especially now that there might be a few people playing it), here you go.
