By Alex Villafania, hackenslash Reporter
INQUIRER.net

The casual fighting game GetAmped is set to go commercial by Jan. 9 and will be in hybrid free-to-play model, according to an executive from publisher Amped Games.

GetAmped is Amped Games’ first casual game and its third game after Tantra and WarRock. It was developed by Japanese firm CyberStep Inc.

The game, which was launched for beta testing in October 2007, has about 50,000 registered players, with a concurrent user base of 6,000 players.

In an interview, Amped Games product manager Caloy Alejandro said players will only need to use Amped top-up cards to purchase virtual weapons and items through the game’s item shop. Likewise, there will be some items that can only be purchased by playing the game.

So far, the shop has about 20 types of items but Alejandro said they will add more items every month. He also noted that there are at least 500 items for GetAmped.

“There’s what we call the game money and the real money and the equivalent will be one is to one so players don’t have to convert the prices of the virtual items. Some items can only be bought using game money, others using real money from the top up cards and some can be bought using both,” Alejandro said.

Alejandro also hinted at GetAmped updates that could be launched in the coming months.

Amped will also prepare for regional competitions, which could start in February this year. The winners of these games will go on to compete against foreign players for the GetAmped World Festival in Singapore either in July or August.

GetAmped is already being played in China, Thailand, Vietnam, Korea, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Indonesia.