Foamstars makes the pivot to free-to-play in October

After eight months as a paid game, Square Enix's Foamstars will go free-to-play on October 4.

The developer further revealed that it'll remove the PlayStation Plus requirement for the sudsy shooter on the same day. In short, it's effectively giving the game away for free to anyone interested.

Foamstars released in early February for the PlayStation 4 and 5. While it was priced at $30, PS+ subscribers got the game packaged in with their subscription, similar to how PlayStation handled the launch of Destruction All-Stars in 2021.

Will free-to-play status clean up Foamstars' numbers?

Reading between the lines, the free-to-play shift indicates Foamstars has been a nonstarter for Square Enix. Its post ends by saying support for the game after its free-to-play switch would be "greatly appreciated."

The game faced an uphill battle during its first reveal, which was later exacerbated by middling reviews and a negative reaction to having in-game art made by the generative AI tool Midjourney.

Going free-to-play can be a boon to online games, as we've seen with Fall Guys and Destiny 2. But the pivot can also indicate a title is not yet long for this world, and it's still in the suds where Foamstars will fall on that spectrum.