Ubisoft’s The Crew to feature microtransaction shortcuts

Ubisoft’s upcoming racer, The Crew, appears to be heading down the same path that led to much of the criticism that another recently released racer saw at launch. Like Forza Motorsport 5, which introduced free-to-play style microtransactions for speedier progression, The Crew will allow you to speed up the game’s progression by making in-game purchases with real money.

“We’re not going to stop you from progressing [if you don’t spend money], but it’ll be more time,” Julian Gerighty told Videogamer.

From the sounds of it, The Crew is going to have the same dual currency approach that was seen in Forza 5, either having players slowly grind towards progression milestones, or taking a shortcut by paying for it. In The Crew, these shortcuts will lead to higher performance parts, and it’s unclear whether these parts will play a role in the multiplayer aspects of the game, possibly leading to a pay-to-win scenario.

The Crew is due out later this year on the Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

The Crew Premiere Trailer