Tekken got their own battle pass, but not everyone is taking it lightly. Read on to learn more about Tekken’s battle pass, the rewards, and more.
TEKKEN 8 Gets a Battle Pass
Intended to Keep the Game Fresh
As the trend of microtransactions continues, it seems that even Tekken will be riding the wave as well. Featured in two different TEKKEN Talk Live streams from TEKKEN Director Katsuhiro Harada and his team, fans are outraged by the inclusion of the new Battle Pass that came with their newest update, which also includes the return of Eddy Gordo. The main complaint is that as the game is already priced at a premium AAA level, the game still includes products to pay for which feels predatory to players. These products, despite being solely cosmetic, are still subject to the fans’ ire, as most of the legacy costumes and other customization items were given for free in the past iterations.
User Yzyasir in the r/Tekken subreddit pointed out that he already paid to play and the practice is just anti-consumer. They say, "Look man. I already payed $70 dollars to play the game. First people said microtransactions were okay because games were free to play. But this one isn’t. I payed to already play it. On top of that I grew up not having this nonsense in my games. You had things baked into the original game and just had to play to unlock it. People are so used to being abused by companies that they’re like ‘yeah why not’. It’s just anti consumer."
Tekken always had a robust customization system (especially in its 6th iteration), and while the game currently has better character customization than the previous game, the addition of buying other items with real money seems "scummy" and "predatory." As pointed out by user MonroeHanlon in his post in the r/Tekken subreddit, Bandai Namco withheld information about the game’s microtransactions in the form of the Fight Pass and the Tekken Shop before the game’s release.
The worst offense would be reusing old customization items in their new Battle Pass as user Toonalicious said:"Using old assets from t7 as battle pass is even more scummy," which sadly seems to be the case. User @shootmans on Twitter(X) managed to confirm their suspicions, as he posted a picture of the Fight Pass items with recycled assets that he’s found while datamining the game.
Not the Only Offender
As games get pricier and pricier, even the fighting game genre is not safe from immoral business practices. With Tekken adopting its own microtransaction services in the form of the Tekken Shop and the Battle Passes, it’s not the only big fighting game offender in town. Street Fighter 6 also has its own version of the Battle Passes and DLC costumes, with its own problem of having to pay more than the specified amount for a single costume.
It only began with pay-to-play post-launch character additions before, now they’re also advertising to pay to wear a different type of shirt for your character. When does it end?
Source:
Reddit r/Tekken post by MonroeHanlon
Reddit comment by Yzyasir
