Netamin Communication announced their Ultimate Baseball Online (UBO), the massively multiplayer online baseball game will be free to play. The reason is they introduced in-game ads into the UBO.

Diamond Bar, CA- Oct 25, 2006 Netamin Communication Corp, publishers of Ultimate Baseball Online (UBO) 2006, the world¡¯s only massively multiplayer online sports game (MMOSG) for baseball, today announced that due to high interest from advertisers the company has decided to keep UBO free to play, with no subscription fees required. A premium subscription option will still be available for all players, offering leagues and tournaments with cash prizes, player stat keeping, increased experience points for game play and other enhancements.

Over the past four months, UBO 2006 total game play hours have increased by 50%, making the game a hot commodity for leading consumer companies. With the help of a leading in-game advertising agency, the overall UBO experience will become even more realistic as ads begin to appear on billboards in UBO stadiums and in other UBO venues.
¡°The success of a unique gaming concept like Ultimate Baseball Online is driven by its community of players,¡± commented Judy Key Johnson, chief operating officer of Netamin. ¡°It¡¯s a win-win situation for our company and for the UBO gaming community if advertising revenue can continue to keep our game free to play for all. Market research has shown that in-game advertising in sport games is not only accepted by players as a preferred alternative to subscription fees, ads provide a more realistic sports game experience as they mirror the real sports world.¡±

Ultimate Baseball Online 2006 Premium Subscription
Ultimate Baseball Online will offer a tiered system similar to the many fantasy leagues services. A basic free version of UBO offers unlimited character leveling through pick up games and some free tournaments.

For a ?7.95 entry fee, players can participate in a 10- game UBO ¡°Season¡±, featuring cash prizes, regular season and post season awards, exclusive news coverage on the UBO website, and double experience points during league games. There will be five seasons during each calendar year, with a competition at the end of each season, and an annual Best of UBO playoff.

Players who have already subscribed to UBO may choose either a refund, or to apply their subscription fee towards the first official UBO league, which starts in early November 2006, and crowns the winning team as the Best of UBO 2006.