Capcom has officially killed its microtransactions for Dragon’s Dogma 2. As the studio works on the release of the game’s Dark Arisen expansion, which is designed to address key issues from the game’s launch release, its controversial microtransactions have been gutted as well.
Announced in a social media post, Capcom confirmed that the game’s weak Deluxe Edition and microtransactions will be no longer available on any platform. The studio confirmed that these changes have been made “due to the development of additional content and various adjustments for the upcoming title update” for the game.
The removed items include bundles for Rift Crystals, a currency that allows you to buy pawns associated items in the Rift. Additionally, players can no longer grab a Wakestone, Portcrystal, Art of Metamorphosis, Gael Key and other items through the game’s Deluxe Edition.
While this sounds like a winning change for fans, it’s really not all its been made out to be. Yes, the removal of microtransactions in a single-player game is great, but the reality is that microtransactions in Dragon’s Dogma 2—much like other Capcom games—are laughably useless.
For example, the game’s Rift Crystals bundles did allow you to quickly spend money to unlock high-level pawns or cosmetics, but you also earn the currency like crazy just from playing the game. This wasn’t a gacha game situation where progression was slow; earning RC in Dragon’s Dogma 2 is still very well balanced, and I can’t imagine a situation where any player would ever need to buy them.
The main way to earn RC in DD2 was just to activate the online features and allow players to use your main Pawn in their game. However, you can also just loot them from enemies, scour chests, fix busted riftstones, and more. It’s so easy that your pawns even point them out to you while you play the game.
On the other side, there’s the also fairly useless deluxe edition items. The makeshift Gaol Key? You can usually find one inside the gaol cell anyway. The Art of Metamorphosis? You can buy one for a measly 500 Rift Crystals. Wakestones? They are literally everywhere.
Microtransactions in Dragon’s Dogma 2 came at a period where Capcom were adding useless microtransactions into every release. Devil May Cry V allowed you to buy blue and red orbs which are earned through just playing the game. The worst, by far, was Resident Evil 4 Remake’s Upgrade Tickets, which absolutely don’t need to be purchased either.
Nevertheless, it is nice to see the mere concept of microtransactions being removed from Dragon’s Dogma 2, even if they were only purchased by those who were bad at the game, or didn’t even want to connect with its systems in the first place. As someone who has played a lot of DD2, I can’t fathom anyone ever actually buying them. (After all, if people were buying them, they would likely be staying.)
