Trackmania 2020 Will Follow a Pay-Per-Year Subscription Model

Excitement grows as we near the release of Trackmania 2020. But not everything about the latest in the hit racing game series is necessarily good. The main game will have a pay-per-year subscription instead of a standard retail price.

According to an announcement on the Trackmania website, the game will not be sold for a standard purchase price. Instead, it will offer three different tiers of gameplay availability. With the bottom level being free, the rest of the game will require a yearly fee.

Trackmania is a universal racing game and with three levels of engagement, we aim to fit every players gaming preferences. The Starter Access, which is free, is a great foot in the door for new players. The Standard and Club Access will support creation and sharing tools for our more advanced players.

- Florent Castelnerac, Ubisoft Nadeo Managing Director.

At the lowest level is the Starter Access tier. At this level, players can race in solo or multiplayer races. They will have access to a 25 track campaign that is renewed quarterly. They can also download and play other people's custom levels via the Arcade Channel. This tier is free to play.

The next tier is called Standard Access. This increases the amount of content available, including a Track of the Day selection, replay feature, and track editors. They can also participate in daily competitions. This tier costs $9.99 for one year.

Lastly, the offer Club Access. This level includes everything listed above, as well as extra features like skin customization, special campaigns, online rooms, and more. They can also create their own clubs and participate in leagues organized by Ubisoft themselves, such as the Open Grand League and Trackmania Grand League. This tier is offered as either one year for $29.99 or a three-year bundle for $59.99.

This is a somewhat controversial method of monetization. Subscriptions are a relatively new idea in the mainstream video game world. Usually reserved for MMOs that have to maintain servers, the idea of paying for a game more than once, only to lose access once you stop paying, doesn't sit well with many video game consumers, especially for games that aren't inherently online. It must be a profitable concept, though, or it wouldn't be growing in popularity.

Inversely, the base level of gameplay is available for free, allowing many folks to have the chance to play when they wouldn't have bothered otherwise. 

The success of Trackmania might also be diminished by the lack of availability. The game is only available on PC, and only on the Epic Games Store and the Uplay Store. Neither of these markets are tremendously popular with the PC gaming community. By not being available on Steam, the most popular PC game marketplace, will undoubtedly hinder their overall player statistics.

Regardless of how you feel, Trackmania will release on the Epic Games Store and Uplay Store on July 1.