It is safe to say that Microsoft’s upcoming Crackdown 3 will face a lot of scrutiny from the media and gamers when the game finally launches early next year. Originally announced way back in 2014 with an innovative multiplayer mode, the game has gone through multiple release date announcements and subsequent delays. While most of the scrutiny will understandably be directed towards Crackdown 3’s cloud-powered destruction physics the fact remains that any aspect of the game that is not up to par will be lambasted across the internet. With all of that in mind, feedback from people who have recently played the game indicate that it is a fun experience. Even better, the in-game economy will not be impacted by microtransactions or loot crates according to Microsoft Studios’ Creative Director Joseph Staten.
It turns out that Jez Corden over at Windows Central had an opportunity to talk about the game with Staten and even play a recent build for himself. Their conversation eventually wandered over to the topic of monetization. Microsoft has yet to announce any sort of DLC expansions or even a season pass for Crackdown 3 which is a little surprising for an AAA game these days. It is not as if there isn’t any sort of additional content planned for the game; there actually is a lot but the developers have not yet settled on how to deliver it to players. However, Staten was emphatic that they did not want to incorporate loot crates or any type of microtransactions within the game.
“We know that we didn’t want to go with microtransactions. We’re not going with the concept of loot crates. There will be things you can unlock, increasingly cool things. Whether they’re rank based, or based on the number of matches, we’re honestly still playing with it. We’ve made hundreds of things to unlock” – Joseph Staten
Cynical gamers might point out that microtransactions could be conceivably added to the game at a later point in time. If I had to guess, I would say that loot crates and microtransactions will never come to Crackdown 3. After all, prize boxes were removed from Forza Motorsport 7 (though these could never be purchased with real money) and do not show up at all in Fora Horizon 4. As Corden’s article notes, Microsoft has high hopes that Crackdown will become a major franchise for Xbox and I just can’t see them adopting loot crates at a time when resentment towards the practice is very high.
But what do you think? Let us know what you think about loot crates and other microtransactions in games like Crackdown 3.