Didn’t getting a PlayStation 4 launch title for free for being a PlayStation Plus subscriber sound almost too good to be true? Well, that’s because it actually is too good to be true.

Sony confirmed that the PlayStation Plus Edition of the PS4 launch title Driveclub is going to operate on a free-to-play business model. You can get the game for free but some of the game’s tracks and cars will be locked out until you buy them.

In an interview with Digital Spy interview, Driveclub design director Paul Rutchynsky said that the core single-player and multi-player aspects of the game would be free to PS Plus members upon the console’s launch this fall. However, he said, “only thing that (Driveclub is) limiting you on is content, and that content is cars and tracks.”

How much the upgrade to the full version of the game will set you back hasn’t been disclosed. Rutchynsky also announced that the game would be supported with new content for several months after release and some of that would be available to everyone for free.

The idea is to get the game into players hands so they would try a game that they may not have otherwise considered buying. It also helps because racing games tend to be good-looking to begin with so it’ll do a good job of showing off the PS4’s capabilities early in the system’s lifecycle.

I can’t say that I’m particularly happy that this free game announced at Monday’s press briefing comes with a massive asterisk but I can understand why that asterisk is there. Giving away copies of a $60 game for people who are paying a $50 annual fee and getting a bunch of discounts and free games as a result isn’t a smart business model. As long as I don’t have to pay a full $60 to unlock the game, I can almost tolerate it. I think a $15 upgrade to a full version seems fair.

Source: Digital Spy