Light Bearers is a multiplayer asymmetrical hide & seek game “that pits a sinister shadow against cute light bears“. Players can play with friends locally or with anyone online, in fast rounds wherein one player is chosen as the Shadow while others play as Light Bears trying to avoid infection.

Free-to-Play Model at Launch

Light Bearers was released free-to-play yesterday, October 23, on Steam for Windows PC. However, level progression was locked into a paid DLC, which made its freemium model appear more like a demo than standard F2P. The 10-dollar DLC named “Light Bearers Full Game” also contained a vast array of cosmetics to customize the looks of Bears, based on the ability to level up, and also a set of Shadows bearing different gameplay attributes.

Free-to-Play Model Now

The level-up limitation applied to the free-to-play version didn’t quite feel right for players and the Developer in charge at Fat Bomb Studios quickly reacted (the same day!) by unlocking that feature, and also managed to prevent reviews from tarnishing a game that is so worthy of praise.

“After hearing some concerns about not being able to level up, I have enabled leveling for free to play players. Cosmetics are still locked but now you can progress and if you choose to buy the Full Version DLC later on, your levels will carry over to it.”

The “Light Bearers Full Game” DLC now includes only cosmetics, independently of player level, which puts the game more in line with the best practices found in the F2P industry. Reviews are 90% positive so far and manage to make the game stand out on overcrowded store shelves. Here are some quoted review excerpts that describe how good the game is.

“Fun to play, especially with friend!”
“Hilarious, the voice acting is awesome, and the gameplay is fast and never frustrating!”
“There is tons of very replayable content FOR FREE!”
“The devs/community are also very helpful!”

For more details about the F2P announcement, read the official Announcement Post.
Light Bearers is accessible via this Steam Page.