Gamers know what they love and hate about their passion, and whenever fans get outraged over gaming, it's important for developers and publishers to take note of what they have to say. No more is this true than in a recent fiasco over Assassin's Creed: Valhalla's use of microtransactions.
In a recent post on Reddit, fans of Assassin's Creed have struck out against Ubisoft over their inclusion of additional armor set microtransactions. The controversy points out that there are now more sets that can be paid for separately than exist in the full game, and people are not happy about it. Some are thinking back to the previous installments, Origins and Odyssey, which were also plagued by microtransactions post-release.
The post contains more than 900 comments in which gamers express their concern over the company "milking" the fanbase by adding content that's only exclusive to those willing to fork out for the bonus material. While some of the new add-ons are cosmetic only, there are some items that do affect gameplay and Reddit users are disappointed, to say the least, about having to pay a lot more money for advantages. Some have even admitted to using cheat systems in order to get hold of the new armor sets for free, chalking it up to a win against "greedy" publishers.
Currently, Assassin's Creed: Valhalla has a total of nine armor sets that come as part of the main game, but the argument states that there is now more content that can be bought through microtransactions. Some users even drew comparisons between this and Middle Earth: Shadow of War, which was also subject to a lot of microtransactions and was subsequently slammed by the community, even though some were saying that even those microtransactions weren't "aggressive." So far, Ubisoft has not made a statement.
Assassin's Creed: Valhalla was released in the latter parts of 2020 and was regarded as being an excellent addition to the series. However, this latest controversy rekindles a wave of debates that has been plaguing gamers for years now. Many are perhaps still adjusting to the idea of games being released with a lot of DLC, or being bombarded with microtransactions that can turn a $60 game into one that sets people back several hundred dollars. However good a game may be, its reputation – as well as that of the company responsible for it – can be marred by continuing to put out additional content that requires more and more money.
Assassin's Creed Valhalla is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Reddit