God of War is set to release for PS4 on April 20th this year. Ahead of the action-adventure game’s launch date we learn that Cory Barlog, the creative director at SIE’s Santa Monica Studio, has disclosed that there will be no microtransactions in God of War.
Some publishers and developers add microtransactions in their projects and the news about the implementation either sparks controversy or its like water under the bridge.
Most of the controversy that sparks from microtransactions comes from the inclusion or announcements of predatory practices, such as pay-to-win mechanics or intrusive MTX in single-player games.
Well, the latest God of War game set to come out this April is a single-player title, and no word from Santa Monica Studio or creative director Cory Barlog has surfaced regarding live services of any kind… until now.
On March 6th, Barlog consoled a concerned fan by stating that there will be no microtransactions in the game. He responded to a gamer asking about having to pay real money for outfits.
No freakin way!!!
— golrab of the frost (@corybarlog) March 6, 2018
Given Barlog’s expression behind his post stating “No freakin way!!!” seems to stand as a strong indicator that fans of God of War will not see any form of live service features in the upcoming action-adventure game.
Something worth noting, though, is that recent games have been adding microtransactions and loot-boxes post-launch to avoid any pre-launch assessment on how they work or to avoid pre-launch angst from gamers. Additionally, the act of post launch microtransactions is usually implemented in multiplayer games like Ghost Recon: Wildlands, Rainbow Six Siege, or Battlefield 1.
Contrary to the above, Far Cry 5 single-player mode will not launch with loot-boxes but it will have microtransactions. Given Balrog’s response, God of War will steer clear of microtransactions, but it’s best to keep an eye on the game post-launch to see if any of that changes.
God of War is set to hit PS4 on April 20th, 2018, and will not feature microtransactions.