Copernicus, the massively multiplayer online role-playing game from the now defunct 38 Studios, was planned as a free-to-play game.

In an interview with Boston Magazine, Curt Schilling, the founder of 38 Studios, said, "We were going to be the first triple-A, hundred-million-dollar-plus, free-to-play, micro-transaction-based MMO. That was one of our big secrets. I think when we eventually showed off the game for the first time, the atom bomb was going to be free-to-play. When we announced that at the end, that was gonna be the thing that, I think, shocked the world."

Schilling went on to say that while they were gathering investors at the end of 38 Studios' life, that fact that it was free-to-play was what made investors most excited to invest. Schilling said, “Most investors wanted nothing to do with subscription-based products, they were all on the social media, and free-to-play games as a means to revenue.”