Star Citizen, the spaceship-combat game with a never-ending crowdfunding campaign, is currently undergoing a wave of backlash from players. Developer Cloud Imperium Games recently rolled out components that improve ship movement that were originally exclusive to the real-money store--a change that has caused fans to revolt. As reported by PC Gamer, CIG's addition of flight blades in a recent update, which improve ship maneuverability or speed, has caused significant anger among the community. The particular issue at hand here is that CIG rolled these out only to the Star Citizen Pledge Store, where the studio sells in-game items like ships, cosmetics, and upgrades.Selling an item like flight blades isn't on its own unusual--the pledge store is a core method that CIG crowdfunds its game. However, Star Citizen has long had a norm of allowing players to purchase upgrades either with real money or with in-game currency (called aUEC). While the studio promised that they would be made purchasable by in-game currency later in the summer, they were launched early to players willing to shell out cash. Gating the flight blades exclusively behind a real-money paywall struck many fans as a bridge too far. The Star Citizen forum thread announcing the flight blades has accumulated over 2,000 replies, way more than the average thread, and most of these are quite negative. "Selling performance altering modules and keeping them locked behind this paywall even for a short period is still the definition of pay to win and not ok CIG," the top-voted comment from user Vraxer declared. User Morphologis wrote, "So if we're now separating out new features into sellable website commodities, where does this go next? Exclusive Jump Gate keys to Nyx 3 months early? Special exclusive new mission coordinate keys? This is a step too far." The fan revolt came so quickly and with such intensity that CIG had to post a revision of its approach to flight blades. In this new thread, which itself has garnered over 1,100 replies and a huge number of negative reactions, the studio admitted that it had "missed a step" due to "moving faster than ever" to complete a packed docket of game updates this year. Instead of launching them into timed exclusivity to the pledge store, CIG stated that it would delay the release of the components until later in the summer and launch them simultaneously for both real money and in-game currency. CIG also committed to concurrent releases in the future, stating, "For future gameplay kit introductions, we’ll ensure these items are obtainable in-game on day one." Perhaps not surprisingly, this slight backtrack has not calmed the frustration of Star Citizen players. Many of whom have continued to express dismay and anger at the expansion of components for sale that are seen as "pay to win"--that is, components that significantly improve or otherwise alter the behavior of ships in normal gameplay situations. As the top-voted poster, SaltEMike, wrote, "This is a bandaid to calm people down, but the root issue here is that you continue to sell more and more items in the game that have a wider impact on what a player would do day to day." Part of the reason why this change has caused such ire among fans is likely that Star Citizen has raised a tremendous amount of money from early adopters since it began its crowdfunding campaign back in 2013. According to its own website, CIG has brought in well over $800 million, an astonishing sum for a game that is still technically in early access. Correspondingly, Star Citizen is considered one of the most expensive games ever made.However, despite the game's astronomical price tag, CIG has had a rocky track record of development practices. Last year, reports claimed that employees at CIG were being forced to work brutally long hours and crunch seven days per week on the game and its first-person shooter spinoff, Squadron 42...
Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick has discussed the hot-button issue of pricing in the video game industry, saying prices have consistently gone down over the years, adjusted for inflation, while also claiming the company is not attempting to nickel and dime players to maximize profits.Speaking to GI.biz, Zelnick said his ambition is for people who buy Take-Two's games to feel like they're coming out ahead in terms of the value proposition."Our job is not to turn a consumer upside down, shake them, and see how much change comes out of their pockets. Our job is to create the very best entertainment. If we do that, the revenue will take care of itself," he said.Not everyone would agree that Take-Two is executing against this directive, as 2K's annual NBA 2K franchise is criticized every year for its ubiquitous microtransactions. Despite that, sales of NBA 2K25--the newest entry--are strong, reaching nearly 10 million units, Zelnick said.Take-Two currently makes most of its money from what it calls "recurrent consumer spending," which includes revenue from virtual currency, add-on content, in-game purchases, and in-game ads. For Take-Two's latest quarter, revenue from recurrent consumer spending jumped by 14% and made up 77% of Take-Two's entire net revenue. NBA 2K25 was one of the top contributors in this department.Also in the interview, Zelnick discussed the current pricing environment for video games, with companies like Nintendo and Microsoft beginning to charge $80 for new games. Zelnick said when adjusted for inflation, pricing for new releases has declined for the past 20 years. Indeed, $60 in the '90s is about $80 today, adjusted for inflation.Zelnick declined to say if Take-Two will follow suit and begin charging $80 for new games, but instead spoke about how his aim is to "maximize the value being delivered, and then offer that value at a meaningfully reduced cost.""That's our job. I do think that the value that is offered is massive and growing, and that is our job," he said.On the subject of Mafia: The Old Country bucking the trend and selling for $50, Zelnick said this was an intentional pricing decision made with the aim of getting the game "into as many hands as possible." The Old Country is a linear, non-open-world title that doesn't require a massive time commitment. 2K has said it believes there is an audience for just such a game.Another upcoming 2K game, Borderlands 4, launches in September but has no price as of yet. Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford said even he doesn't know what the price will be.GTA 6 launches in May 2026, and many are expecting it to sell for a higher price point, though not everyone agrees that it will be $100. According to industry experts, the data shows that people are already embracing paying more for video games, which may help explain why Nintendo and Microsoft were the first to move to higher price points. Sony has warned it might raise prices, too...
The Heroes of Might and Magic video game series turns 30 this year, and ahead of the release of a new game in the series, Dark Horse Books has revealed a new 30th Anniversary Retrospective book. Now available to preorder for $55 at Amazon, the 192-page deluxe hardcover is scheduled to release November 25.Heroes of Might and Magic has had multiple games over the years, starting in 1995 when it spun off from the main Might and Magic series. The rights to the IP were originally held by New World Computing, which was later acquired by 3DO.After 3DO closed down, these rights were then sold to Ubisoft, with the first game under new ownership being Heroes of Might and Magic 5. Following a lengthy hiatus after the release of Heroes of Might and Magic 7 in 2015, Ubisoft recently announced Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era, which is being produced by Iratus: Lord of the Dead developer Unfrozen. The new game will be released later this year through Steam Early Access on PC.For more cool collectibles, you can check out several other books at Dark Horse Direct focused on the art behind specific video games. These range from The Last of Us to Mass Effect, and several of them have been discounted recently.Alternatively, you can also preorder jigsaw puzzles designed to celebrate the legacy of developer Naughty Dog. Based on the studio's Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception and The Last of Us Part 2 games, these are priced at $30 each, and they're now available to preorder.Naughty Dog Collectible PuzzlesThe Last of Us Part 2 deluxe two-sided puzzle -- $30Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception circular cipher disk puzzle -- $30Dark Horse Art BooksThe Art of the Mass Effect Trilogy: Expanded Edition -- $30 ($40)The Art of Mass Effect Andromeda -- $30 ($40)The Art of Horizon Forbidden West -- $70 ($100)The Art of Dragon Age: The Veilguard -- $100The Art of The Last of Us Part 2: Deluxe Edition -- $80 ($90)The Art of Halo Infinite: Deluxe Edition -- $70 ($80)The Art of God of War Ragnarok: Deluxe Edition -- $120 ($130)The Art of Star Wars Visions -- $90 ($100)The Art of Masters of the Universe: Origins and Masterverse -- $90 ($100)The Legend of Zelda: Arts and Artifacts -- $30 ($50)The Legend of Zelda Encyclopedia -- $30 ($40)The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia -- $30 ($40)The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild - Creating a Champion -- $35 ($50)...