Killer Instinct is "Not Free-to-Play"

[LordLundar]

So, theoretically, I would pay $50 for a god damned DEMO?

and then another $40 if I wanted all the characters.


so, essentially, it's a $90 fighting game that was resurrected for the sole reason of selling your console.


yea, fuck you too, Microsoft.

Uh no. The initial part (with only a playable Jago) is free. No purchase at all. $40 gets you all the characters in one shot. It's actually a pretty nice deal and FAR better than Marvel Heroes (good GOD that is bad).


Now that said:

"the world's most generous demo."

My Microsoft is loving the exaggerations as of late, aren't they? "Best launch lineup in history", "1 billion consoles sold" and now this. Someone get a pin. We need to pop those egos. This is nowhere near the "most generous demo". There are ones out there that put this to shame.

 

[J-meMalone]

There is one downside to this nobody seems to have pointed out yet. What happens if my friend normally plays a character that I don't own and wants to play locally? Guess I'm shelling out for that character after all.

Also, this model becomes less viable the more characters the game has. I haven't been keeping up with KI since I don't plan on getting an XBone, but I assume it's going to have a relatively small roster of characters, otherwise this would quickly become MORE expensive than a full retail game.

Could you imagine this model for the newly announced Ultra Street Fighter 4? The game is going to have FORTY-FOUR characters, so unless the sell each character for $1.4 each, it's going to cost more than a full price game.

And what happens when the inevitable updated re-release comes out? Do I keep my old characters? Do I have to re-buy the characters? If I bought the bundle before, will I get the new characters free of charge? (Okay, that's REALLY unlikely, but a guy can dream)

 

[sid]

I just want to know what the total price for all of the content would be.

40, plus dlc and all the usual stuff

 

[Verlander]

Technically it's not the worlds most generous demo, it's the world's stingiest free to play. You play the game for free, but you need to cough up money to even enjoy the damn thing. Then, after you've paid enough to have seemingly bought the game, you are given even more things to buy.

I get it, the industry needs to make money. This isn't how.

 

[Tanakh]

-snip-

Glad you like LoL system, glad also you think being able to pick different champs, runes and masteries affects nothing the gameplay. I think its BS and you are totally wrong, but honestly have zero interest in discussing it.

On the other hand I find totally legit the business model KI is proposing and can't see how a free demo + being able to choose to either buy the game or buy just the toons you want it's a bad thing at all... that i would be interested in discussing.

 

[windlenot]

It's funny, because the way you say it actually makes it seem a lot worse than a f2p game.

 

[Stevepinto3]

If it limits free content like a FTP-game, and charges you for characters like a FTP-game...

The real tragedy here is that free to play has become such a dirty term that no one wants to call their game that. TES online doesn't want to do it. Microsoft obviously doesn't. You know free to play was never a bad idea in my mind, yet thanks to terrible business practices this is what it's become.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

-snip-

Glad you like LoL system, glad also you think being able to pick different champs, runes and masteries affects nothing the gameplay. I think its BS and you are totally wrong, but honestly have zero interest in discussing it.

You don't even want to discuss that you don't even have the OPTION of buying Runes and Masteries with real money, and that they can only be gained from in-game points? Um, okay then. Clearly, effecting the gameplay by buying tiny upgrades with fake currency you get from playing is a load of bullshit.

OT: What, so I 'own' my games now, do I? Oh good, now I know that if KI is a steaming pile of shite, I can always sell it to someone else without incurring EULA wrath.
In any case, I don't understand what the hell this guy is trying to say. A single fighter isn't what I'd call 'the most generous demo ever'. Then again, if what he's saying is that you can pick and choose what parts of the game you want and cut the fat that you don't, that IS quite interesting... though it sounds even worse than the F2P in some ways too...

 

[Neta]

There were more than a few fighting fans disappointed to discover...

Blatantly obvious backtracking is blatantly obvious.

 

[BrownGaijin]

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Well befuddled as all hell. Okay, okay, so there are three ways of buying the game
1. Pay the whole $40 bucks (here's six characters, we'll get you the other two later on. Promise)
2. Pay Twenty Bucks (same amount of characters, with less features)
3. Pay Nothing (once character, pay five bucks for each additional)

Um... nope still not sure how I feel about this. They're going to give me a character I may or may not like for free, and if I want to buy a character which may or may not better suit my style I have to pay five bucks first.

Fuck it, I may as well just pay the forty bucks up front. Not gonna fight about what other people want to do either way. I guess I'm just confused as a result of all the BS that they've tried to pull previously - this just "sounds" like more arrogance.

 

[Quellist]

To all those saying its not a particularly generous demo....how many demos allow you to complete the game?

From what i understand this is the full game, beginning to end with just one character playable...i dont think i ever saw that in a demo before, normally a fighting game demo allows you to play a 1 single player fight or some 2P matches with 2-4 characters unlocked.

If, like me you live for single player and consider multiplayer a needless hassle, its a pretty sweet deal.

 

[Amir Kondori]

Semantics. It isn't as abusive as most mobile free to play games, sure, but literally the game is free to play with the one character, right? And then you can buy more?

Its interesting to see how eager he is to distance their game from the free to play model, they must know how unpopular it is among core gamers.

 

[Arawn]

Fighting games always rank low on my videogame spectrum usually because they're the equivalent to Wii Sports; only fun when you play against someone else. Single player is a short challenge for your skills vs the AI and nice practice, but there's no epic story. The ending is usually a short movie then GAME OVER while you enter your initials. Boring stuff. Giving you one character? If you want to have "fun" you'll undoubtedly buy more. Calling it "generous" is being generous. You can play the heck out of that single character, but eventually you'll purchase the rest. But maybe I'm wrong. Maybe people won't be bored and completely master their single toon.