Tekken 8 Shows Microtransactions Were The Worst Addition To Fighting Games

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Shahmeer Sarfaraz

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You know, from time to time I find myself thinking about the old days of gaming, back when your efforts were handsomely rewarded. You had to explore, complete hidden stuff, and do multiple playthroughs, but that gave you a sweet OP weapon, gear, or unlocked secret characters. Those were the days.

Now, do you want to make any meaningful progress or get extra stuff? Pay up, or forget it. Even hard work can be bought by spending in-game. An F2P can very rarely match the potential of a paying customer, all of which has made gaming less about innovative and versatile content, and more about how much stuff can be monetized.

Why it matters: Tekken 8 is now charging $5 for a stage regardless of the game bundle you have, reinforcing that what used to be acquired with effort now needs money.

Tekken 8 Is An Example Of What Not To Do

This microtransaction problem has plagued the entire gaming industry at this point. Just look at fighting games, trying to charge extra for whatever they can think of. And speaking of fighting games, Tekken 8 has recently decided it wants more from your wallet.

Tekken 8 has recently revealed the return of Heihachi, who just doesn’t know when to die. I honestly don’t even know how he survived this time around, but here he is. So, my fellow Tekken enjoyers, how did you like this reveal? Excited to see your past main return? Well, give it a moment, I’m about to ruin your day.

Alongside Heihachi, Tekken 8 has added a fancy new stage that long-time players would definitely like to play on. The thing is, Bandai Namco has very politely asked for an extra $5 for it. What’s more, this stage is not included in any prior bundle of Ultimate editions or season passes, it’s an extra purchase you have to make.

Fighting Games Have Changed For The Worst

As expected, this policy in Tekken 8 comes entirely from Bandai Namco’s side. As if the publisher hasn’t already earned enough opposition for its pricing practices. Season Passes, cosmetics, characters, etc. have become the norm now, but paid stages? It’s a new low.

So what was the point of selling these?
byu/ShadyHabibi inTekken

All of this reinforces my point that fighting games adopted all the wrong things. Yes, the games are mechanically much more refined, visually impressive, and I’ll admit a lot more fun. Fighting games of the past might not have been as impressive as today, but at least when you bought them for full price, you knew for sure what the full price was.

Extra characters and cosmetics were unlockables with specific gameplay conditions, not absurd purchases. I still remember vividly the extreme joy I felt when I unlocked Apocalypse as a playable character in X-Men vs. Street Fighter. No purchase can ever replicate that feeling.

Today, even the $70 price tag is extremely misleading. New characters? Paid. Cosmetics and accessories? A credit card is needed. They even come with in-game shops now like some sort of live service, trapping you with an extreme FOMO.

Microtransactions Are A Plague

Though gaming has certainly evolved, so has the greed of these big companies. Full-priced games are no longer enough, titles need to make as much cash as possible, accomplished by monetizing things that very much should’ve been free. Why give something away when you can charge a fortune for it?

Do you know what the saddest thing is? Fighting games like Tekken 8 aren’t the only genre ruined by microtransactions. When companies saw the potential of the live service model and how it was a constant source of cash, the first thing they thought was “How can we use it?” 

Absolutely sick to death of battle passes and micro transactions.
by ingaming

Fighting games, shooters, RPGs, sports; anything that even had a semblance of “long-running” in their design picked up microtransactions one after the other. Heck, even purely single-player titles weren’t spared. What place do microtransactions have in a game like Assassin’s Creed? But did that stop Ubisoft? You know the answer.

What good is I bashing Tekken 8 or fighting games in general when the entire industry is poisoned? Hoping for change in one organ when the entire body is affected is just plain impossible. Things won’t get better until this microtransaction problem is uprooted entirely, and as hopeless as it may seem, raising the flag of opposition is all I can do.

Shahmeer Sarfaraz

Shameer Sarfaraz has previously worked for eXputer as a Senior News Writer for several years. Now with Tech4Gamers, he loves to devoutly keep up with the latest gaming and entertainment industries. He has a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science and years of experience reporting on games. Besides his passion for breaking news stories, Shahmeer loves spending his leisure time farming away in Stardew Valley. VGC, IGN, GameSpot, Game Rant, TheGamer, GamingBolt, The Verge, NME, Metro, Dot Esports, GameByte, Kotaku Australia, PC Gamer, and more have cited his articles.