In the brief three months since Tekken 8 launched on January 26, the game’s Steam review ratings have taken a nosedive, falling to “Mostly Negative” primarily due to a recent update that implemented microtransactions through the Tekken Shop.
Many players were dumbstruck when, a month after release, legendary Tekken developer Katsuhiro Harada announced on a live stream the introduction of an in-game shop for advanced customization options and fighter purchases. Many fans of the franchises have complained that a $70 game shouldn’t cost you another $70 once you’ve purchased it. One player went so far as to say that adding a surprise battle pass or microtransaction after players have spent up for a game should be “illegal.”
The fact that the game initially launched without a microtransaction store and then was introduced by surprise has evoked strong feelings among the fan base. One player expressed their opinion on the matter by going as far as calling Tekken developers “scummy as fuck,” in a Reddit thread discussing the game’s fall from grace among fans.
As if the late introduction of the Tekken Shop wasn’t enough, Tekken 8 also introduced battle passes and purchasing fighters in the form of DLCs, adding to the continuous monetization of the fighting game. Capoeira master and long-standing Tekken fighter Eddy Gordo was added to the game’s roster on April 4. Unfortunately, the fan-favorite Brazilian fighter is trapped behind a paywall.
Players are furious at developers for locking this content behind DLC., “Imagine trying to sell a character that has been on the roster since Tekken 3,” one player said. The palpable frustration from players stems from the fact that a large character roster and advanced customization options have been industry standards for years and are now considered a given by many players. Straying from the norm now feels disloyal to the game’s spirit.
On top of the above-mentioned frustrations with a greedy monetization system, Tekken 8 still hasn’t fixed some of the bugs and issues that have been around since launch day. Arguably, the most infuriating problem is pluggers, also known as rage-quitters. Players who don’t want to risk losing their precious rank have been haunting online matchups for months now with no resolution from developers in sight.
According to producer Katsuhiro Harada it’s been a challenge for Bandai Namco to take meaningful action against pluggers due to legal obstacles and hurdles in many countries. As of the time of writing, plugging is still fairly common in the game, adding another layer of frustration for loyal players of the franchise.
