The pirate MMO officially switches to the free-to-play model with today's patch.

Flying Lab Software announced last week that the free-to-play patch for Pirates of the Burning Sea had to be pushed back to today, Nov. 29, due to the Thanksgiving holiday. Well, the wait is almost over! The servers are currently down for maintenance, but they're scheduled to be up around 9 a.m. PST/noon EST (UPDATE: The new ETA is 3 p.m. PST). Once patch 2.1 is live, you'll be able to log in and play the pirate MMO for free.

So what exactly does the term "free-to-play" mean for Pirates of the Burning Sea? For all the details on the differences between a free account, a premium account and a Captain's Club membership, be sure to look at the comparison chart on the official site. Basically, players can still choose to pay $14.99 per month for access to certain premium content and discounts in the new Treasure Aisle in-game store.

To find out why Flying Lab decided to make the switch from the subscription model to F2P, check out our recent interview with Design Department Lead Declan O'Connell. Will you be playing Pirates of the Burning Sea?