Microsoft jumps into the free-to-play business for real this week, as microtransaction-based beat'em up Happy Wars hits Xbox Live Arcade this Friday. That's October 12th.
The game, developed by ToyLogic, promises 15 v 15 online battles in large-scale cartoon arenas. There'll also be an offline single-player campaign and a local co-op mode (against enemy AI) available, in case you have an internet blackout or something.
There's no charge to download and play the game for Xbox Live Gold subscribers, but optional character customisation items can be purchased from an in-game store. If you want to get involved with that sort of thing.
Free-to-play is a bold new journey for Microsoft, with the company diving in headfirst in 2013 with a number of follow-up F2P XBLA titles currently under development.