Roughly 15 months after release and a 95% decrease in player count, Turtle Rock Studios has finally moved Evolve into a free-to-play business model. Their first game since developing Left 4 Dead in conjunction with Valve, Evolve upon release was beleaguered with questions about the necessity of their vast DLC model, and the longevity of the game. For some time, it was jokingly held on a pedestal as an example of how not to release a new IP. Through a pair of videos and a number of posts though, we’ve gotten a bit of a look at how Evolve in F2P is going to work.

Named “Evolve Stage 2,” Evolve is going to move into a beta phase as players test out the new systems, balancing, pricing, and more. A list of all available content was made at the official website, but it does confirm that all previously released DLC and skins will be made available to be unlocked by all. How long this might take isn’t clear, but with enough playtime, players should be able to kit out their playstyle how they’d like. Evolve Stage 2 also brings a new perk system, class and monster changes, map redesigns, game mode tweaks, and more. A full list of changes is available here.

What about the people who purchased Evolve before it went F2P? These people will be given “Founder Status,” which nets them 19 characters unlocked, in addition to any DLC characters purchased, 56 weapons skins, and 3000 “silver keys,” to be used to further purchase items. Again, it’s unclear just how well this will translate into purchasing items in-game, but it’s at least a head start. Other future bonus items will be revealed later for Founders as well.

Will all these changes bring back Evolve from the dead? It’s hard to say. All the heartfelt letters from the staff will likely have a tough time rebuilding burned bridges. Personally, I enjoyed the time I spent with it, but like many others, worried about the longevity of the game, especially for the price. I’ll be checking out the F2P version whenever it releases today, but we’ll see if Evolve is able to retain some players this time around.