Ubisoft Massive's upcoming Star Wars game might include microtransactions, which isn't totally surprising, but it is giving gamers the willies as Star Wars games haven't had the most amazing track record with this feature.
Star Wars Battlefront II is infamous for Electronic Arts' horrific handling of its loot boxes and its microtransaction aspects, so much so that the publisher had to pull all in-game purchases before the game even landed on the shelves. Other games have had similar misfortunes - Gran Turismo 7 reduced in-game rewards for races at the same time it introduced microtransactions, and fully upgrading your Diablo Immortal character would set you back about $110,000. I know some of you will be needing some heartburn medication after reading that.
Ubisoft Massive is the developer of the new Avatar game too - check out the trailer below!
Exputer spotted that the company is seeking a monetisation specialist to "contribute to the financial success of our games, shaping strategies that boost profitability while respecting our players and the essence of each game." Again, this isn't too out there, but it does seem to suggest that this monetisation specialist might work with the teams on The Star Wars Project, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Tom Clancy's The Division 2.
Obviously this isn't filling fans with a lot of positive thinking. "Back in my days we got the entire content of a game just by buying it," joked Destian_ on Reddit. "Any game with monetization like these needs to be 18+. I can’t imagine how many parents have been shocked at credit card bills based on these games," pointed out Genova_Witness.
Advert
Crucially, the role doesn't specifically state that it would be attached to the new Star Wars game so it's best that we exercise caution. Yet, as lots of people have highlighted, an in-game store and microtransactions are standard fare for modern Ubisoft games. We'll have to wait and see what goes on with this one.