Ghost Recon Online is a free-to-play shooter, closed beta 'this summer'

While Ghost Recon Online is decidedly a video game (unlike some of Ubisoft's other experiments of late), it's clear the French publisher is eager to invest in new markets like, for example, the free-to-play shooter market. Ghost Recon Online (GROnline?) is a third-person, cover-based tactical shooter –- that's what Ghost Recon games are, after all. The big difference in this Ubisoft Singapore-developed title is that, unlike its console-based counterparts, GROnline will be freely downloadable when it launches "in the second half of 2011." Too long to wait? A closed beta kicks off this summer.

Like most other free-to-play titles, Ghost Recon Online will allow microtransactions, giving players the ability to purchase "premium items" to "personalize their experience" (and enhance their abilities). "The online market has evolved into an important new frontier for video games and for gamers," Ubi CEO Yves Guillemot said in a press release. "With Ghost Recon Online, as well as with other important upcoming projects, Ubisoft is confident that we're creating high quality, innovative online experiences, and that our customers will benefit from the choice and creativity that Ubisoft brings to the market."

If you want to get in on that beta, head over to the Ghost Recon Online site and share that email! If you just want to watch a trailer for the game, that's okay too – you'll find it just past the break.