As microtransactions continue to test gamers’ patience with their frequently aggressive implementation, Payday 2 players have been told by developers Overkill Software on two separate occasions that their game will never feature paid items outside of its DLC.
In May 2013, Payday 2 producer Almor Listo wrote: “We’ve made it clear that Payday 2 will have no microtransactions whatsoever (shame on you if you thought otherwise!).” Then, in an interview with GameSpot in June 2013, lead designer David Goldfarb responded to a question regarding whether the game would feature microtransactions, saying: “No. No. God, I hope not. Never. No.” But Goldfarb has since left the studio, and it seems that Overkill have been eager to go against his previous comments, with the company now introducing paid, stat-boosting weapon skins that have enraged the game’s community.
These weapon skins are available through the purchasing of “safe drills,” which are used to open safes which grant access to randomized loot drops. These loot drops grant access to Epic, Rare, Uncommon and Common weapon types, and are available for $2.50 a pop.
The microtransactions are a part of the game’s Black Market Update, and it’s the first installment in what will be 10 days of updates for the game in its annual CrimeFest event. Things aren’t looking good for Overkill, then, as it hasn’t even been 24 hours into the update and already the Payday subreddit is littered with complaints, and the community is even banding together to attempt to set a record low number of players of the game until they’ve received a statement from the developer.
Microtransactions are hardly a new concept in video games, with most developers unfortunately employing them to some degree, though it seems that this has raised the ire of Payday 2 players more so than the community of other games due to Overkill being so adamant that microtransactions would not be implemented into its game at any point. While improved weapons have made their way into the game via DLC, these safes represent the first time in which players could actively seek out and purchase new and improved weaponry exclusively, and it does threaten to leave those who choose not to do so with lackluster guns compared to those who have forked out the extra cash.
Thus far the company have remained quiet regarding the update, though we should expect to hear more from them soon. Check out the trailer for the Black Market Update, which currently has just under 2,000 dislikes on YouTube, below:
