38 Studios' Project Copernicus would have been free-to-play

38 Studios founder Curt Schilling has opened up on the studio's massively multiplayer game, known only under its working title, Project Copernicus. Speaking to Boston Magazine, Schilling said the plan was for the game to be free-to-play, with revenue expected from in-game microtransactions.

"We were going to be the first triple-A, hundred-million-dollar-plus, free-to-play, micro-transaction-based MMO," he said. "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 said he was originally reluctant to embrace a free-to-play model for Project Copernicus, but was later convinced it was the best idea, saying he "went 180 degrees." The former Major League Baseball ace also said free-to-play was helping 38 Studios ink a financing deal for Project Copernicus, claiming investors were reluctant to sign a subscription-based MMO game.

38 Studios publicly crumbled in May, and is now bankrupt. The assets to the studio's Amalur game world, which includes Project Copernicus, now belong to the state of Rhode Island. The only video footage ever released of Project Copernicus--originally intended to ship during June 2013--is below.