Trion Worlds has announced that Defiance, the MMO shooter tie-in to the SyFy show of the same name, will become free to play during June this year.

Creative lead Trick Dempsey told IGN, "Different partners move at different speeds,” so the free-to-play update will roll out on PC on June 4th, with console updates following later in the year. Trion anticipates a July 15th update for PlayStation 3, while the studio is "currently discussing details about the Xbox 360 release."

As usual with free-to-play transitions, those who buy a box copy or have previously bought Defiance in the past will be offered an assortment of items including 1,000 Arkforge, the new currency system being put in place. Players will also get four character slots, five loadouts, up to 75 Ark Keycodes and a minimum 70-slot inventory. Trion is also throwing in thirty days of Paradise Patron status once Defiance transitions to free-to-play.

Scratching your head wondering what Paradise Patrons is? Trion has stated that those who purchase an item from the in-game store will be granted a "Patron Pass" which offers boosts to skill, XP, scrip, salvage and reputation gain rates, all of which are stackable with the matching boosts in the store. You'll also gain a 10% discount on the in-game store and a "grab bag of one-hour boosts or Arkforge from Daily and Weekly Ark Hunter Bonus Lock Boxes."

“Yes, we make less from the customer" with this plan, Dempsey said. "We don’t want to be that guy," he continued, explaining that many studios do free to play in a way that is “largely exploitative.” Season Pass content will still require a fee, however. "That content is not going to become free," Dempsey said. "DLCs are still the same objects they were when they were released to the public initially." However, the entirety of Defiance's Bay Area content and endgame will be available for free when the model changes this year.