Derek Lairmore March 30th, 2024 - 1:51 AM
In the wake of the bad news of Bandai Namco striking down video content of mods for their flagship fighting game, Tekken 8, it’s easy to be down on the direction the game and fighting games in general are taking. Moreso now that Bandai Namco have seen fit to announce a battle pass for Tekken 8.
New Feature “TK Fight Pass”
– You can complete daily or weekly challenge to unlock new customization item for free, even Tekken coins can be earned from here pic.twitter.com/jwrVJvuzIl— Hi! Buff Gigas Please? (@BuffGigas) March 29, 2024
As shown above, Tekken 8 will soon feature a battle pass. On one tier you get the free items in the lineup by playing the game and completing daily missions. On the other tier, dubbed the “premium” tier, however the better goodies are stored. On the premium tier, which is only available via a money purchase, the better items are stored and the Tekken community is none too please with this revelation.
> $70 Game
> Season Pass stuck in Deluxe Upgrade for $40
> And the game also got a Cash Shop
> And now has a Battle Pass with premium tiersThis is… a lot. https://t.co/SITbE346v3
— Koenji (@koenjideck) March 29, 2024
The playerbase sees this as a grab for more money, squeezing out a few extra dimes from customers who already paid for a $70 game. It doesn’t help that said playerbase are now dredging up quotes from Katsuhiro Harada himself regarding the state of Bandai Namco and the attitude many at the top seem to have towards monetization in their games.
Harada said BNE executives are only interested in milking Tekken 8 & it’s obvious now.
– Overpriced ultimate & collector editions
– Charging $40 to play DLC 3 days early
– Selling Skins then killing completing mods
– Items that was free in past games locked behind battle pass pic.twitter.com/Tefw7fJkmY— Moonsault Slayer (@VolSkimmer) March 29, 2024
Said interview can be found in full on IGN.
It is a shame to see Bandai Namco go down this road, though one could probably see this coming with the aforementioned trend with fighting games: Capcom’s Street Fighter 6 has had battle passes implemented since day one and Netherrealm Studios’ Mortal Kombat 1 is a whole can of worms that would take an entire day to get into. Needless to say, while the gameplay of these games can be criticized for the most part they’re very satisfying to play but as a whole package, as a product, it looks as though this is the future of fighting games, and that future doesn’t look particularly bright.
