News: Dragons Dogma Online Announced by Capcom

Capcom has announced via Famitsu the free-to-play online RPG Dragons Dogma Online.
The new online entry in the series will see you take on the role of an Awakened in the new land of Lestaria. Adventuring with four-player parties, or AI Pawns if you so choose, will be the order of the day with you able to spend free time in town lobbies with up to 100 people. The game will be an open-world adventure, with future updates expanding the game world as well as possibly adding eight player jobs later down the line. In an interview with Famitsu, producer Matsukawa and director Kinoshita stated:

• Development started with the basic desire of taking Dragon’s Dogma and making it playable in an online environment.
• The game couldn’t be made in tandem with Dragon’s Dogma: Dark Arisen and was therefore pushed back.
• Capcom contemplated a monthly fee, but chose freeo-to-play in the end in an attempt to get more players to try it out.
• Though paid items are present, the game will still feel like a proper Dragon’s Dogma game.
• The story is completely new and there are no character connections. (Editor’s note: We take it this means no character connections to the previous game.)
• The game world will initially be the size of what players have come to expect from previous games, but will expand over time to be three times larger in scope.
• Parties are formed in the lobby, after which players depart for the field.
• An effort has been made to emphasize the strengths and traits of individual classes, but it’s not balanced so strictly that players need to be super meticulous about party makeup.

The online RPG is due at some point during 2015 for PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, and PC. It's not know yet whether that 2015 date applies to NA & EU as well.

Source [Gematsu]