Threads
- Tekken 8 has seen Bandai Namco going all-in with microtransactions.
- Apart from the traditional character Season Pass, this game initially introduced a microtransaction shop.
- A Battle Pass followed, highlighting one of the worst implementations of this practice to date.
- The game has faced criticism from dedicated fans after such monetization practices.
Tekken is the biggest 3D fighting game today. A massive roster of characters, complex gameplay, and active competitive scene are all attributes that kept this franchise relevant for many decades, but Tekken 7 catapulted the series to new heights.
I was among the millions pulled into the IP by Tekken 7’s popularity, and Tekken 8 was immediately exciting for me. The game nails Tekken’s gameplay, breathing new life into the formula through the Heat system.
With 2 million units sold, the entry has been a major success. However, Bandai Namco’s monetization is pushing me away from Tekken 8. Following the recent introduction of the Battle Pass, this game’s microtransactions have become even worse.
Why it matters: Tekken 8’s Battle Pass is a sorry excuse for monetization. In my opinion, there is no room for such practices in a $70 game.
The Battle Pass Is Pathetic
My qualms with the practice aside, this Battle Pass is simply terrible. It reuses items that already exist in Tekken 8. If this wasn’t bad enough, the studio has even added older customization items from Tekken 7 as rewards.
One of the final rewards for the free tier seems to be a gender-swapped costume from the base game, while other rewards provide a stock ball model pulled from Unreal Engine.
The number of empty slots in the free Battle Pass is also laughable. While the game asks 600 coins($6) for the premium Battle Pass, Bandai Namco’s currency system means that everyone must spend a minimum of $10 on the purchase.
Sure, you have 400 coins left after the purchase. The leftover coins can be used for costumes from the microtransactions shop, but Bandai Namco has made the Battle Pass a $10 purchase, even if you don’t want anything else.
For $10, the publisher wasn’t even kind enough to provide a permanent Battle Pass. That’s right, these rewards expire eventually, so anybody who wants to reap the full benefits of their purchase must spend hours grinding the many tiers before they run out.
Adding insult to injury, Bandai Namco introduced these microtransactions after launch.
The idea of selling costumes was already bad enough, but Katsuhiro Harada had an acceptable enough explanation. However, at this rate, Tekken 8 is on track to becoming similar to a Gacha game.
This practice takes me back to Tekken 7. A few years into the game’s lifespan, the publisher introduced frame data as DLC, a feature that every fighting game ships with.
Everyone thought that was terrible; little did we know what Bandai Namco had in store for Tekken 8.
Bamco are officially cracking down on Tekken 8 mod channels (full thread in reply section)
byu/scott1swann inTekken
Going Against Mods
Tekken 7 was famous for its mods.
You could play as Darth Vader, Goku, Cell, and even boss characters from past Tekken games. I expected an even more impressive modding scene for the sequel, but to my surprise, Bandai Namco is going against modders.
The crackdown seems to be due to the publisher’s intentions to sell cosmetic DLC. Were fans able to obtain older costumes and various skins through mods, that would have harmed the cosmetic shop.
Therefore, the team has turned against modders, going as far as to ban videos on YouTube. I cannot understate how disappointing this move is. Considering that Tekken almost disappeared entirely after Tag Tournament 2 failed, it’s sad to see the team falling into complacency after one major success.
Tekken 7 had its fair share of DLC problems. Many of the major characters were said to be pay-to-win, and selling frame data was a new low, but the game never introduced microtransactions on this level.
It should be noted that these systems exist on top of a game that already costs $110 for the Ultimate Edition.
In the aftermath, Tekken 8’s Steam rating has taken a hit, and rightfully so. While many keep buying microtransactions, most are tired of this practice, leading to negativity whenever teams go so far as to integrate these elements into $70 games.
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[News Reporter]
Abiyan is on track to complete his Computer Science bachelor’s degree. His enthusiasm for writing and gaming motivates him to keep readers and gamers updated with the latest information from the industry. In his free time, Abiyan enjoys playing Dota 2 and Rocket League. Abiyan has also been cited in reputed websites such as Kitguru, Comicbook, GamingBible, Eurogamer and Gamingbolt.
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