A screenshot of the cash shop for Anthem recently made its way online, giving gamers an idea of what the cash shop pricing could be like in BioWare’s upcoming third-person, multiplayer shooter.
PushSquare picked up the news from a Reddit thread, where the image showcased how much items cost using in-game currency known as coins, which you gather via grinding/completing missions, and how much items costs via Shards, which are purchased using real life money.
So as you can see, the cost of various items via the shards can get quite costly, since 100 shards will run you $1 in USD. So 1,000 shards will cost you $10 USD, and 2,000 shards will cost you $20. So the two Javelin skins you see in the store cost $20 each.
As mentioned in the article, senior systems designer, Chris Schmidt from BioWare, hopped into the thread to clarify the pricing model they’re using for Anthem, or rather the lack of definitive pricing currently being iterated for the pricing model. Schmidt states…
“Hey there! One thing to keep in mind is these don’t represent final, stamped for all of eternity pricing. We are iterating on our economy design and balance almost daily, so you’re seeing a snapshot of one iteration. This is why we tend to not discuss things like pricing, because it’s one of those iterative things that’s sure to change frequently right up until the day you play the game.”
This likely won’t help the naysayers and skeptics who aren’t digging Anthem at the moment, especially due to controversies like anti-gaming pundit Anita Sarkeesian visiting the studio a while back, which rubbed a lot of gamers the wrong way.
BioWare’s last outing also hasn’t inspired any confidence in the company. Mass Effect: Andromeda was a pretty poorly received outing from EA and BioWare due to the social justice elements and poor gameplay design due in part to the company’s diversity hiring.
Anthem, so far, has a lot of negative anti-hype leading up to its release, so it’s unlikely that the game will sell well, and with news about microtransactions being in an already AAA-priced title for $60 isn’t going to inspire anyone with common sense to pay full price for the game when it launches on PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
