Crimson Alliance Price Structure Explained

Crimson Alliance, the newest hack and slash dungeon crawler for the Xbox Live Arcade, has gained a lot of free press thanks to it being the "free game" given to those who purchased all five Summer of Arcade titles. If you log in the Xbox.com Marketplace or the Dashboard you'll notice that Crimson Alliance is free. What's the deal? Allow us to explain.

Certain Affinity's latest game is the first "freemium" or "free to play" game on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The free "full version" that anyone can download will indeed give you access to all three classes from the start but you will only be able to progress so far. After that you will be prompted to purchase one of the following "packs" to continue playing.

1200 MSP ($15) - All Classes Pack, gives you access to each playable class and their full progression tree.
800 MSP ($8) - Each class has its own Class Unlock that can be purchased. This is viewed as a cheaper option for those who only want to play one role.

Presumably the version that will go out to all Summer of Arcade purchasers will be the premium 1200 edition. It would be kind of silly and frustrating to find out that you were only given one class for free after purchasing all of those games. Not to mention if that were the case, then the cost of to unlock all three classes would skyrocket to nearly $20!

What are your feelings on Free to Play or "Freemium" games on the Xbox Live Arcade? Does Certain Affinity have the right idea when it comes to the pricing structure? Let us know in the comments.