The release of The Culling 2 can only really be described as this console generation's most disastrous release. After changes to The Culling left players disgruntled, the team abandoned development on their first title and rushed out the ill-fated sequel. With a completely different style of gameplay, the sequel's reception was poor and it was removed from the store just a week after release. This drastic move was accompanied by a promise that developer Xaviant was returning to support the first game and that it would change to a free-to-play format. Today, the team took one step further towards that promise by removing the premium version of The Culling from the Microsoft Store.

The title will eventually be returning as The Culling: Origins and returns to the game's roots as an Early Access title on Steam. It will include the "anything goes" combat, perks, and airdrops, but will also introduce custom matches, "XP and leveling, leaderboards, Cull Crates, hundreds of new cosmetics, new weapons, skill-based matchmaking, and voice chat". There will also be microtransactions that will offer premium cosmetics, such as "clothing, weapon skins, taunts, victory celebrations, and Culling Cards", but will "not (and will never)" include any mechanics that are pay-to-win.

Every time a player levels up, they'll earn a Cull Crate, which includes four items that are either cosmetic items or Credits. Duplicate cosmetic items can also be turned into Credits, which in turn can be used to buy more standard cosmetic items. However, some Premium items can only be bought with Tokens. While Tokens will occasionally drop from Cull Crates, they will mainly be purchasable with real money. Finally, there will be premium DLC packs.

will be released on Steam tomorrow. Players on that platform who purchased the game before it went free-to-play will receive the "Original Gangster" founder’s pack, which includes "two full “O.G.” outfits, 1000 Tokens, 10 Cull Crates, 4 Culling Cards, 2 weapon skins, a Taunt, and a Celebration". The cosmetic items will be exclusive to the founder's pack. Those players will also retain all of their previous stats, progress and unlocks. While not confirmed, we assume a similar system will be in place for Xbox One players.

The Culling: Origins doesn't yet have a release date on Xbox One as there is more work to do to support the free-to-play model, as well as a new certification process. The team has promised more news on this in the future.

We've got the full list of The Culling achievements - check the list for guides to unlocking them.