The first expansion for Pirates of the Burning Sea, Power & Prestige, officially hit the live servers about 10 hours ago, but that news is only the tip of the iceberg for this swashbuckling MMO. Flying Lab Software just made a surprising announcement: Pirates of the Burning Sea will become free-to-play with the launch of the next major update sometime this Fall.

According to the press release, players will have "the ability to purchase premium content and various in-game items such as missions, clothes, pets and more" once the game switches to the free-to-play model. "Players will also have the option to purchase a subscription plan known as the Captain's Club, which is expected to include access to certain premium content, account upgrades and discounts."

What exactly will this change mean for Pirates of the Burning Sea? We reached out to Flying Lab to get all the details, so keep an eye on ZAM.com in the near future for answers from the development team.

UPDATE: Flying Lab CEO Russell "Rusty" Williams has written a devlog entry on the upcoming free-to-play change, and the official site has also been updated with a devlog that explains what going free-to-play means for players. Be sure to give them both a read and then check back with us regularly for more information from the team.

Ahoy! We have some big news for all you pirate fans out there. Flying Lab Software just announced that "Power & Prestige," the first major expansion for Pirates of the Burning Sea, is going live tomorrow, Sept. 15! For a game that's nearing its third anniversary, this expansion has been a long time in the making.

In fact, let's travel back in time a moment. We published an interview we conducted with Associate Producer Janice Vonitter and Game Designer Greg Hanefeld at PAX 2009 about the expansion exactly one year ago today! We also awarded Flying Lab our ZAM PAX 2009 Award for Best New Feature thanks to the Port Governance system that is coming in Power & Prestige.

It should go without saying that we're excited at the thought of players running to be governor of a port. It will add a completely new dimension to the game. Also, let's not forget the 60 new missions, 4 new factions, and the brawling school of combat that will be added when Power & Prestige hits the servers.

Flying Lab Software has just announced that their first major expansion to Pirates of the Burning Sea, called "Power & Prestige" will be kicking off at the beginning of August 2010. Coming with this expansion are more than 60 new missions, 4 new factions, the long-awaited "Port Governance" system and a new school of combat: brawling!

As noted earlier, this expansion will be the first for PotBS, which is huge, considering the game has been around for over 2.5 years. Russel Williams, the CEO of Flying Lab Software notes that this expansion was designed specifically for the players of PotBS, and the team has been "incorporating their input as much as possible."

To go into some more specifics about Power & Prestige, the most anticipated change will be the new "Port Governance" system, where players will be able to become the Governor of a Port! Once you attain this lofty goal, you can then set taxes and manage the port, improving your infrastucture or developing your defences against other players. As well, like any good Governor of the time, you will also be able to take a salary (and perhaps a little bit more!) from the Port's Coffers. Finally, players will be delighted with the updated ship combat mechanics and new combat features that will be coming with Power & Prestige. Remember, you can always sign up for a 14-day trial from the PotBS website!

Flying Lab Software has unveiled the newest port battle map in Pirates of the Burning Sea, and this one's called Vulcan's Caldera. Here's the backstory of this towering inferno:

"Once a towering island, the shifting magma below the surface collapsed the central mass, plunging it under water. The basin left by this collapse gave birth to a new volcano, as the magma sought a way to escape to the surface. The result is a deadly ring surrounding a towering inferno, worthy to be named for the Roman god of fire."

Vulcan's Caldera is set to appear more frequently than the more familiar maps to give players the opportunity to try it out.

Flying Lab Software is currently in the process of consolidating all players onto the Antigua and Roberts servers, and the team is holding a Welcome Ball on Saturday, Feb. 13, at 3 p.m. EST to ensure that the transition is a smooth one. The event will mark the first time that Flying Lab's official voice chat server will be open to the public.

The server merge may have just started with the launch of build 1.22 last week, but the Pirates of the Burning Sea team is already looking ahead to patch 1.23. Lum just posted a devlog entry that outlines numerous changes coming to the game in the patch, and you can read it after the jump.

Beginning tomorrow, Feb. 5, former Pirates of the Burning Sea players will get a month of free play time to return to the game and try out the new features that have been implemented since they left. The offer ends on March 5 and only applies to users who stopped playing between Jan. 22, 2008, and Jan. 15, 2010.

This offer comes after this week's launch of build 1.22 and Flying Lab's consolidation of players onto two servers. The other three realms will be shut down in five weeks to give players ample time to transfer their characters to the Antigua and Roberts servers.

It seems that February is "return for free month" for MMO players. As we reported, Sony Online Entertainment is inviting former Star Wars Galaxies players to return to the game for free this month to try out the Galactic Civil War update.

Build 1.22 is now live in Pirates of the Burning Sea, and it introduces the Active Nation Selection and National Player Faction features to the game. You can read the full patch notes after the jump.

As we've reported, Flying Lab Software is on the process of consolidating all players onto the Antigua and Roberts servers. Now that 1.22 is live, players can begin to transfer from Blackbeard, Defiant and Rackham to the two remaining realms. The other three servers will be shut down on March 5.

For more information on patch 1.22, check out episode 9 of the Pirates of the Burning Sea podcast.

Patch 1.22 is scheduled to launch this week in Pirates of the Burning Sea, and it will begin the process of consolidating all players onto the Antigua and Roberts servers. Flying Lab Software will block the creation of new characters on Defiant, Rackham, and Blackbeard when the patch goes live, and players will then have five weeks to transfer their existing characters to one of the two remaining servers before the other realms are shut down.

For more information on the server consolidation, check out this Q&A on the official forums. You can read more about what to expect in patch 1.22 after the jump.

As we reported, Flying Lab Software is celebrating the second anniversary of Pirates of the Burning Sea with an in-game event on Jan. 23. The team just released the details for the event, and it looks like it will kick off with a players vs. devs port battle at 1 p.m. PST. A series of skirmishes will then be held until 3 p.m.

The event will be held on the Testbed server so players from all servers can participate. Flying Lab will be handing out ships, levels and doubloons to spend in the Auction Houses before the event starts, so you can expect to participate in battles of epic proportions.

A second non-PvP anniversary event will be held on the live servers once patch 1.22 is live. Details of the second event will be revealed next week.

Flying Lab Software has announced that it will be celebrating the second anniversary of Pirates of the Burning Sea with an in-game event on Jan. 23. According to a press release, "players will be able to play against the creators of Pirates of the Burning Sea, and game rewards will be given." If you'd like to participate but don't have an account, you can download the free trial and try out the life of a pirate for two weeks.

In addition, Flying Lab will be hosting Testbed events for patch 1.22 on Jan. 15 from 12:30-2 p.m. PST and Jan. 16 from noon to 2 p.m. Here's more details from the announcement: "Players who attend will receive a Pack-O-Fun™ containing ships, outfittings, and some other cool and unusual items for you to play with on the Testbed server. Oh, and we'll also be enabling every red circle on the map!"