While quite a few games these days such as GTA V make money via microtransactions (for instance, by letting players buy in-game currency to purchase items to use in the game), these have been controversial in recent times after publisher Electronic Arts was accused by gamers of making their latest Star Wars Battlefront 2 game pay-to-win, letting players buy loot boxes containing special items known as “Star Cards” which granted all sorts of boosts and advantages on the battlefield.
However, the fan backlash and negative reaction from the press was such that developer DICE removed microtransactions from the game shortly before launch, and is now reworking these so that player progression in the game depends less on paying for loot boxes granting bonuses in-game.
Amid the controversy though, Polish developer CD Projekt Red has spoken out to assure its fans that its upcoming game Cyberpunk 2077 won’t feature any pay-to-win microtransaction stuff in a recent tweet.
“Worry not. When thinking CP2077, think nothing less than TW3 — huge single player, open world, story-driven RPG. No hidden catch, you get what you pay for — no bullshit, just honest gaming like with Wild Hunt. We leave greed to others”.
And it’s certainly great to know that the company’s upcoming sci-fi role-playing game will be similar to their earlier The Witcher 3 game, a massive, open-world game with a great story which many hailed as a masterpiece when it was released back in 2015.
Actually, The Witcher 3 is still selling strongly in 2017, and it’s clear that publisher CD Projekt is much-admired by gamers worldwide, so its claims of delivering and honest gaming experience with their upcoming Cyberpunk 2077 game will be taken for granted by many.
However, in an interview with Strefa, a Polish financial publication (via GameSpot) the company insisted it wants to make the game more commercially successful, and that it will likely have some kind of online component. Whether this online mode will be monetized via microtransactions is something that remains to be seen, although CD Projekt’s recent tweet suggest it’s unlikely the Polish company would take any steps that would annoy its loyal fan base.
Cyberpunk 2077 is still a long way off though, and the game is still likely to change substantially before its release, but hopefully it will turn out to be as great an experience as CD Projekt’s earlier games, offering a classic single player adventure and an online mode not bogged down by microtransactions as many games sadly are these days.