Moonbreaker, the upcoming turn-based strategy game aiming to capture the appeal of physical board games, was one of the most talked about games at Gamescom last month. Developer Unknown Worlds will also be in the hands of gamers with free weekends on Steam and an early access launch this month.
However, one question that some people interested in Moonbreaker have asked is what kind of monetization model the game will have. Will it be a one-time payment for a game that will allow you to progress to new figurines and cosmetics? Will there be seasonal content that we can access by paying? Or will it have a store full of microtransactions? After speaking with Game Director Charlie Cleveland at Gamescom, Unknown Worlds still doesn’t seem 100% secure.
“We haven’t decided what we’re going to do yet,” Cleveland says, referring to the game’s long-term future. “What we do know is we’ll be launching it as a paid download – it’s like our history as a company. We want this to be a long-term game, so we’re adjusting it to have the opportunity to do that. We learned that lesson with Subnautica – we didn’t designed the game to be expandable.
Although initially a paid version, Cleveland acknowledges that Moonbreaker may evolve into a free-to-play model with paid content available in the future. “We think about the future and there are currencies in the game [already] – and we’ll give you a boatload of stuff when you buy it. We don’t know when or if we’re going to change, we just know that we want to change when necessary because we don’t want to give up the game.”
Since Gamescom, Moonkbreaker publisher Krafton also confirmed to The Loadout that free-to-play won’t be ruled out in the future. However, he reaffirms that he will first try to ensure the success of the game as a paid product with a “strong selection of content”.
“While considering moving to an F2P model, Moonbreaker will arrive in Early Access as a paid product with a strong bid for the price,” Krafton said in a statement. “When players purchase the game, they have everything they need to access all of the content in the game.
“Players will also receive free access to Season Coins while the game is in Early Access (which works similar to Battle Pass systems in other games). We have cosmetic items that can be purchased in using the game’s stable currency, Pulsars, which do not affect gameplay. But all captains, crews, maps, etc. (current and future) can only be unlocked by playing the game.
Moonbreaker aims to bring not only the tactical gameplay of popular board games, but also the customization and relaxation it brings. The game lets you paint your own miniatures and even play soothing, information-packed audiobooks while you do it.
Additional reporting by Jess Wells.
Source : The Load Out
