Driveclub will allow users to unlock cars for cash via microtransactions, it was revealed today by Evolution Studios. Having been such a hot button issue among gamers lately, Evolution is getting out ahead of the potential backlash, reassuring that they’ve taken steps to avoid this being something that unbalances the game or makes content harder to unlock by default.
Microtransactions that don’t upset anyone? Is it even possible?
“It’s been a hot topic of late inside gaming, and we’ve been very keen to take on board the feedback from gamers and make sure we don’t upset anyone,” Paul Rustchynsky told IGN. “So, in Driveclub, what we’ve done is make sure that the progression system is really straightforward, really simple and gives you access to a lot of content really quickly.”
“In Driveclub you earn Fame, and as you earn Fame, you level up. Every time you level up, we give you another car. There’s no double gating or anything along those lines, you’re given the car straight away without having to do anything else. The only thing we do have is a couple of shortcuts.”
“If you want to unlock a car immediately, you can pay to unlock that car straight away but it’s not a consumable microtransaction. We don’t let people buy Fame, for example and spend lots and lots. The idea is if you want to shortcut things you can do – it’s identical to what we did in Motorstorm RC. So if you played that, you know what we’re doing here.”
It appears that Rustchynsky and the Driveclub team have learned a lesson by watching Microsoft and Turn 10 bungle the Forza 5 launch. Forza Motorsport 5 launched alongside the Xbox One with an egregious microtransaction system, one that they need to backpedal from quickly, in hopes to extinguish what flaming mess of a game when it came to the progression system.
