This years WWE wrestling game iteration, WWE 2K18, has made some impressive improvements over last years game. Better graphics, bigger roster, new modes and stories, and more unlockable customization. One fan, however, pointed out the potential irony of a tweet from WWE Games displaying a particular customization and its musical/visual motif of money.
To their surprise, however, WWE Games responded with some refreshing news.
In today’s online gaming age, it is not uncommon to come across games that advertise items through purchasing crates, loot boxes, or packs for a small fee, or microtransaction. Ever since the introduction of commercial free-to-play games, the idea of paying a small fee for a random drop chance or item has become a growing, and mostly negative, discussion in the gaming community. The idea behind this business model is to help the player obtain these items at faster rate without paying high fees, but it comes at the drawback of taking a gamble on not getting the item the player wanted in the first place. In most cases, players have the ability to earn these items through regular gameplay, but at a slower rate. This has caused gamers to claim that games with microtransactions are a “cash grab” or are “pay-to-win”. WWE 2K18 takes things back to before microtransactions and requires the player to progress through the game in order to unlock items, customizations, characters, etc. Playing through the game will earn the player in-game currency that can be used to buy loot boxes. Loot boxes will still have a random chance to drop items but without the temptation of purchasable loot boxes. The announcement from WWE Games regarding the lack of microtransactions in WWE 2K18 has also garnered positive responses from Twitter users.
WWE 2K18 hits stores on October 17th for the Xbox One, PS4, and PC, and will be available for the Nintendo Switch later this year.