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Warhammer 40k: Darktide came out earlier this week, and despite the generally positive reaction to the game itself, players have one big problem: monetization.
Like many other games with in-game stores, in Darktide there is an impenetrable layer between you and your purchases. You spend real money on an in-game currency called aquila and then use that currency to buy any item. Players are unhappy that the prices of many in-game item sets are slightly different from the prices of aquila sets – you can buy 2100 aquila at a time, but you will see skin sets priced at 2400, forcing you to buy multiple currency sets to get the item you want.
Community manager Hedge said in a comment on Discord that developer Fatshark is “hoping to add a ‘buy what you want’ feature, but it’s just immeasurably complex, so it’s not going to happen overnight.”
As you can imagine, this particular turn of phrase didn’t sit well with the community, and “immeasurably difficult” quickly became a meme as part of a more substantial criticism of the game store.
We forgot to add one of the kits. The idea has always been 1:1. We realized too late that one of the kits was missing. It takes a little time to get approval and such. But we definitely need to improve it, and we are listening to people. We made a mistake, and we need to fix it so that people do not have such difficulties.
No word yet on when the new set will arrive. It’s worth noting that Fatshark’s previous game, Vermintide 2, offered an in-game store that allowed you to simply directly purchase whatever items you wanted with real-world currency. Game director Anders de Geer said in the same interview that the move to a currency model was made in order to simplify pricing in different regions.
Part of the criticism of microtransactions has been so harsh because players feel Darktide is incomplete. The features on the main menu say they’re “coming soon”, but the cash shop is apparently ready. There is also a small change in the official FAQ. It previously stated that you would be able to earn in-game currency just by playing the game – this description has been removed.
