Just one day after the launch of Season of the Wish, Bungie has removed a $15 “starter pack” microtransaction for Destiny 2 that quickly became the subject of criticism and backlash over pay-to-win concerns.
Over the years, Bungie’s monetization model for their long-running live-service shooter has increasingly relied on DLC and numerous microtransaction channels to support its game, but when players noticed a new “starter pack” added to the store yesterday, many voiced concern that the company had gone too far.
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How is this microtransaction different from the numerous paid offerings of years past? Well, importantly, it contains powerful guns and in-game materials that can take hours of playtime to earn normally, and while Destiny has flirted with pay-to-win elements in the past, this was the first time they’d very clearly gone beyond cosmetic and time-saving mechanics into the world of pay-to-win.
Among the concerned voices was popular Destiny content creator Datto, who reserved a section of his recent YouTube video to lay into the microtransaction offering, asking “How much more tone deaf can you possibly get?”
One of the ways players expressed their disdain for this pay-to-win package was by taking to the Steam storefront with online reviews, and marking the item with user tags including, “Capitalism,” “Crime,” and “Psychological Horror.” The listing has since been removed.
The controversy comes at a troubling time for Bungie, after an underwhelming expansion earlier this year and poor player engagement leading up to the Destiny saga’s finale. So much so, in fact, that Bungie cited lower than expected revenue when it laid off 8% of its staff last month.
As concerns grew louder in the day since the starter pack debuted, Bungie quietly removed the item from their store in an apparent admission that those concerns were valid. IGN reached out to a Bungie representative who declined to comment on the matter.
Updated: Bungie has directly addressed the removal of the starter pack via an X account managed by Bungie employees, writing “We’ve heard your concerns and agreed that there are other parts of Destiny 2 that new players should want to dive into first before chasing these Exotic weapons, cosmetics, and upgrade materials.”
We’ve heard your concerns and agreed that there are other parts of Destiny 2 that new players should want to dive into first before chasing these Exotic weapons, cosmetics, and upgrade materials.
— Destiny 2 Team (@Destiny2Team) November 29, 2023
Notably, these comments don’t seem to walk back the idea of charging money for benefits that have a direct impact on gameplay or the loot grind. A number of replies to Bungie’s response pointed out that these materials should be provided to new players for free given the enormous, unpalatable grindthat awaits players hoping to get into Destiny 2 for the first time.
Travis Northup is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @TieGuyTravis and read his games coverage here.
