Sony Online has already achieved some success with its casual free-to-play MMO Free Realms. Today the developer has announced that it is now bringing that free-to-play business model to its EverQuest series with EverQuest II Extended. Unlike Turbine who turned Dungeons and Dragons Online completely into a free-to-play game (and will do so for Lord of the Rings Online this fall) EverQuest 2 Extended is being handled as a separate game from EverQuest 2 that launched in 2004. Sony Online states that EverQuest 2 will continue with its monthly subscription model and will continue to get updates and content expansions.

EverQuest 2 Extended will allow players to check out a large portion of the EverQuest II game world for free via a new download client that will allow players to start playing the game in minutes. However there will also be ways to pay for access to even more content. You can check out the rather extensive options for EverQuest 2 Extended at the game's official web site. The beta for EverQuest II Extended is expected to launch on August 17.