Wolfenstein: Youngblood, the new mainline offshoot in the remade Wolfenstein series by MachineGames, now has a release date. The game will drop on July 26th according to a new announcement from the developer. But a firm release date is not all that was included in said announcement, because it’s now been confirmed that Wolfenstein: Youngblood will be jumping on the split model of monetization bandwagon.
What am I talking about? It’s simple, the modern AAA games industry is leaning hard on microtransactions, pre-order bonuses and DLC season passes to make more money than ever before for the games that they produce. To that end, it appears as though the publishers of this particular FPS have dropped in that same style of monetization into Wolfenstein: Youngblood with a handful of pre-order bonuses.
If you grab a copy of the game in the form of the Deluxe Edition, priced at $40, you can get some bonuses like the Cyborg Skin Pack, which turns the Power Suits and weapons into titanium alloy versions. The Deluxe Edition of the game also includes a Buddy Pass that buyers can gift to a friend allowing them to download and play Wolfenstein: Youngblood for free, as long as they play with the owner of the Deluxe Edition.
Here’s what is in the Cyborg Skin Pack:
- Cyborg player skin
- Titanium alloy skins for all weapons
- Titanium alloy hatchet
- Titanium alloy knife
- Armor-boosting pep signal
And if you pick up any pre-order of the game for any edition, you can also claim some free cosmetic bonuses in the Legacy Pack, which is detailed below:
- Wolfenstein 2: The New Colossus Jacket Power Suit
- B.J.’s US Army Power Suit
- The Wolfenstein: Old Blood Pipe
- The Wolfenstein: Old Blood Knife
- A WW2 Weapon Skin Set for all ranged weapons
To help smooth the inevitable backlash that some corners of the internet will generate from this special editions announcement, Bethesda and MachineGames also dropped a trailer detailing the story of the new game.
Here’s the basic breakdown for the story of Wolfenstein: Youngblood. The game pushes the timeline forward to the 1980s, and it now follows the two twin daughters of Nazi-killing badass B.J. Blazkowicz. These two resistance fighters are now in Paris, fighting back against the Fascist war machine. And at the same time, they’re on the hunt for their missing father who has disappeared while battling the Nazi scum.
Players will be able to take control of one of the two daughters, either Jess or Soph, and will be able to have the other controlled either as an AI companion or a cooperative second player. This new entry in the increasingly insane FPS franchise is likely about to see the craziness turned up to 11, so I can’t wait to play it.
Wolfenstein: Youngblood releases July 26 for PC, PS4, Switch, and Xbox One.
