Dying Light 2 Taking Flak for Recent Changes: 'Techland Sold Its Soul' [Update]
A huge wave of criticism from gamers came down on Techland after the latest update to Dying Light 2, which introduced an internal microtransaction system into the game.
Update
Development team of Dying Light 2 has responded to player criticism in a post on Twitter/X. The developers announced that they have started working on some solutions for microtransactions to make them more beneficial for the players.
They also stressed that the team is taking into account the voice of the community when it comes to a possible solution to the problem, so feedback on the issue will be collected over the current weekend.
We are also expected to learn the date of the next AMA session with the "face" of the series, Tymon Smektala, in the near future.
Original news
Dying Light 2: Stay Human once again facescriticism from gamers. This time the main problem for the community turned out not to be the game itself, but the new policy of the developers, who on the occasion of the recent update turned more towards microtransactions, and quite aggressively at that.
The recent changes, coupled with the acquisition of Techland by Chinese company Tencent, angered fans of the game so much that they began to review bomb it, scolding the developers for changing for the worse in their approach to the game and players.
"Techland sold its soul to the devil and has been gradually destroying the game ever since."
"The game has stopped low since the Asians bought it."
Although the so-called review bombing seems to be picking up steam at this point, in the last 30 days the Polish game has recorded a noticeable drop in positive reviews on Steam. What's more, the game's subreddit is starting to see more and more posts criticizing Techland's recent moves.
How not to do microtransactions (and upgrades)
The fact that Dying Light 2 will receive a paid premium currency was to be expected. The problem is that Techland, over the years, has managed to make a name for itself as a studio that stands on the side of gamers and listens to the community. All this meant that the inevitable upcoming microtransactions built into the game didn't seem like such a big deal to fans.
Unfortunately, player trust in the Polish developers was quickly eroded when it became apparent that the studio had chosen the standard microtransaction route, which has nothing to do with the pro-consumer attitude - for which the studio was known until recently.
- Here's the thing, the latest update for Dying Light 2, numbered 1.12, added a premium currency, the so-called DL points. Any player who logs into the game before October 7 will receive 500 such points as free extra.
- The problem is that this number of points is not enough for any of the latest "bundles" (you'd be 50 DL short of the cheapest one), but only for old cosmetic items, which, after all, could be obtained through free events.
- As part of the update the devs also changed the content of the license agreement, which clearly states that once purchased premium currency cannot be returned.
- To make matters worse, Techland, like other large "players" in the market, offers such an amount of internal currency, which forces you to overpay, if you want to purchase only one package. Example? 1100 DL points cost 9.99 US dollars, while, for example, you have to pay 600 points for the revolver set (interestingly, the same package until recently could be purchased separately in an external store for $6.99).
- The mechanism for selling premium currency in DL2, although more attractive in the perspective of larger purchases, works so that the player, reaching into his wallet, does it a little deeper than planned and acquires not one particular package, but, for example, 2 or 3.
Some players feel that the game's internal store is a completely unnecessary feature that only serves to manipulate players.
I hate the fact that a package costs 550 or 700 points, so you are forced to buy the 1,000-point option for $10 anyway.
Then you are left with, say, 250 and there is a package for 500 points, so you buy 500 points for $5.
Before DL points, the price would have been maybe $12.
Now you have to spend a minimum of $15.
Not to mention that they can't lower the price of packages to $2."
"The whole buying without leaving the game line seems like a "fix" for a problem that no one had.
Tired of having to go home after work? Well, now we've added a bed to your desk so you can sleep at work and not have to go home!!!"
As if that wasn't enough, critique of the latest update was joined by a group of users, which noted that some weapons in the game have been quite significantly nerfed, without this info appearing in patch notes.
Players even began to spin theories, that some equipment was purposely weakened "quietly" in order to encourage the purchase of a paid one, which will perform better.
"REALLY? REALLY? Way to encourage people to pay for things that are more powerful than the stuff in the base game."
All of this combined has caused some to talke of the game's death, which they thought would lose its appeal after Techland's acquisition by Tencent.
"Well, it looks like Dying Light really is dying."
Techland's policy has disappointed even the most ardent fans of the developers, who began to speculate that the Techland - Tencent deal was an initiative of the Poles, who deliberately entered a "deal" with the Chinese giant in order to be able to realize their ideas about monetization.
Of course, the above paragraph is just conjecture, but it perfectly illustrates how big a disappointment is the fact that a studio once praised by everywhere for its respect and love for gamers seems to have fallen to the dark side.
Personally, I wouldn't put a cross on Techland just yet, given the studio's history, during which many times developers from Poland have taken on criticism head on and drawn the appropriate conclusions - to the satisfaction of players. Let's hope so this time as well.
