Once again, another example of AAA greed in the video game industry has reared up its rotten and bloated head, only to rend another chunk out of our nostalgia and enjoyment of games. This time Activision strikes again to shovel in microtransactions into Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. Yes, a game based on a 20 year-old racing title has microtransactions now, because that’s the gaming world we live in.
As everyone’s favorite bundle of cynicism in the games industry, Jim Sterling, pointed out, the goal here is blatant and disgusting, mostly because of how naked the greed and contempt is. The same tired excuses being trotted out over and over as tepid apologia for the same greedy tactics just gets tiresome to hear. At some point, we just stop listening, and that’s a problem. Because it’s clear that companies like Activision will continue to exploit that lukewarm reception to make money hand over fist. And they will continue repeating the same tired lines because it’s a guarantee that some people will defend them. Even as a company fires hundreds of employees, smashes unions, and does its very best impression of a modern robber baron. Just read the except below and tell me it doesn’t make your skin crawl.
As always, the Pit Stop will be stocked with new and returning characters and cosmetic items, which players can unlock using Wumpa Coins*. With all this content available, there will also now be a way for players to fast-track their Wumpa Coin collection if they like. Starting in early August, players will have the option to purchase Wumpa Coin bundles from their game console stores to supplement the Coins they earn by playing. This option won’t change the game’s core mechanics – players will still earn Wumpa Coins by playing the game in any mode, just as before. They will just able to purchase additional coins if they choose.
The storefront in this remake is clearly designed to mimic popular games like Fortnite in myriad ways. The microtransaction store in Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled has a rotating cast of “just cosmetic” and “optional”, even as every aspect of the visual style, user experience and social pressure built into the system is designed to entice the player to spend money. It being gameplay-affecting or not has little bearing on how sleezy the whole thing is.
There is of course other content packed into this update, if you still want to play it and try to ignore the slime oozing out of your console. There’s the Prehistoric Playground track, which will “immerse racers in an epic world with Jurassic-sized flora, violent geysers bursting from the ground, caves with mysterious wall-paintings, and of course, giant dinosaurs roaming the land.” New challenges will also be added to the roster, creating more content for gamers to grind through. Check out the teaser image below for more details.
If you’re like me and draw some amount of satisfaction from AAA companies getting called out for their nonsense, check out Sterling doing just that in the video below.
