Helldivers’ business model is primarily microtransactions. The microtransactions affect gameplay, so it’s in the direction of “pay to win”. It’s not the paragon of non-predatory monetization that people make it out to be.
(Baldurs Gate 3 and Palworld both are good examples of a healthy pay once and actually own a copy games)
Also none of these games released without serious bugs.
For which you can get the premium currency by simply playing the game. I got enough for 4 of them, though I didn’t get one. You can farm it in level 2 missions, getting 40 - 70 each mission if you are short. You can do that with a squad of 4 friends to have the mission time be sub 10 minutes. It isn’t necessary to 1. get every warbond 2. pay real money for the currency. The grind isn’t massive and is skippable by simply playing the game normally.
The fuck are you talking about, you can unlock everything without ever once spending money. Even if you DID drop thousands that would only give you more bonds and some cosmetics you can’t buy medals. You have to play to unlock things
This is how microtransaction driven games typically work.
You technically never need to pay, but they keep adding more content locked behind 1000 credit warbonds, and some of that content is very useful, and getting to 1000 medals takes a while if you aren’t specifically trying for it.
If you actually want all of the gameplay affecting content (war bonds) you either need to grind specifically for medals for a long time or you need to pay.
Other games that use a similar business model:
League of Legends
“Gacha” games like Genshin Impact and a lot of mobile-only games
Fortnite
typical digital TCGs
(Also note all of these are free to play and only make money off microtransactions, which IMO makes Helldivers more predatory for double dipping)
I’m very aware of how micro transactions work. I’m trying to say that this game is nowhere near as egregious is literally any of the others on your list. I don’t play a lot, I get on once every maybe couple days and I do a full set of missions so three Maps.
I just about hit level 27 recently, I already have two of the premium more Bonds on locked and then most of the way through them and I am on page 7 of the overall main war bond. I have not spent any money on the game.
I didn’t grind, I didn’t specifically go for things, and I didn’t spend money. You will get absolutely nowhere for free with that type of casual play in any mobile game or League of Legends
Helldivers’ business model is primarily microtransactions. The microtransactions affect gameplay, so it’s in the direction of “pay to win”. It’s not the paragon of non-predatory monetization that people make it out to be.
(Baldurs Gate 3 and Palworld both are good examples of a healthy pay once and actually own a copy games)
Also none of these games released without serious bugs.
Obviously you haven’t played Helldivers if you think it’s pay to win.
It’s not “pay to win” exactly, but it’s only a matter of time until an important “meta” weapon is locked behind a warbond.
For which you can get the premium currency by simply playing the game. I got enough for 4 of them, though I didn’t get one. You can farm it in level 2 missions, getting 40 - 70 each mission if you are short. You can do that with a squad of 4 friends to have the mission time be sub 10 minutes. It isn’t necessary to 1. get every warbond 2. pay real money for the currency. The grind isn’t massive and is skippable by simply playing the game normally.
Yeah that’s typically how microtransaction driven games work.
See also:
(Also all of those are free to play, so minus points to helldivers for double dipping)
We are not talking about “microtransactions in a game”. We are talking about pay to win. There is a huge difference, and Helldivers isn’t pay to win.
The fuck are you talking about, you can unlock everything without ever once spending money. Even if you DID drop thousands that would only give you more bonds and some cosmetics you can’t buy medals. You have to play to unlock things
This is how microtransaction driven games typically work.
You technically never need to pay, but they keep adding more content locked behind 1000 credit warbonds, and some of that content is very useful, and getting to 1000 medals takes a while if you aren’t specifically trying for it.
If you actually want all of the gameplay affecting content (war bonds) you either need to grind specifically for medals for a long time or you need to pay.
Other games that use a similar business model:
(Also note all of these are free to play and only make money off microtransactions, which IMO makes Helldivers more predatory for double dipping)
I’m very aware of how micro transactions work. I’m trying to say that this game is nowhere near as egregious is literally any of the others on your list. I don’t play a lot, I get on once every maybe couple days and I do a full set of missions so three Maps.
I just about hit level 27 recently, I already have two of the premium more Bonds on locked and then most of the way through them and I am on page 7 of the overall main war bond. I have not spent any money on the game.
I didn’t grind, I didn’t specifically go for things, and I didn’t spend money. You will get absolutely nowhere for free with that type of casual play in any mobile game or League of Legends
Yeah, it’s not pay to win, so much as pay to unlock faster. Plus it’s co-op, so that’s not a huge deal