Breakdown
- CD Project Red says no place for microtransactions in single-player games.
- Recent Capcom and Ubisoft titles have faced massive backlash for a huge number of microtransactions
- CDPR keeps the door open for microtransactions in multiplayer games in the future
CD Project Red has made it clear that the company will not include microtransactions in its single-player games with a statement coming from Piotr Nielubowicz.
The company's Chief Financial Officer said that they “do not see a place" for microtransactions in its single-player games. The statement comes in light of much discussion over the increasing trends of microtransactions in single-player titles like Dragon's Dogma 2.
The full statement from the CFO read, “We do not see a place for microtransactions in the case of single-player games, but we do not rule out that we will use this solution in the future in the case of multiplayer projects.”
CDPR has historically been openly opposed to microtransactions with both of their recent big hits Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3 not including any microtransactions. These games have only included massive paid expansions or DLCs - the smaller ones often coming out for free
Games like Elden Ring saw immense praise from fans for not including any microtransactions similar to Baldur’s Gate 3 and Spider-Man. At the same time, the recently released Dragon’s Dogma 2 and Ubisoft’s newer AAA titles have faced immense backlash for a huge number of items being only available after in-game purchases.
Nielubowicz, in his statement, was smart to highlight the difference in approach for multiplayer and single-player titles. It was long rumoured that the CyberPunk 2077 release would also include an online mode, but constant delays and poor response on release concerning glitches saw that idea scrapped.
It is expected that multiplayer will be a part of the studio's next project, codenamed Orion. If the company wants to compete with the likes of GTA Online, it may well have to take the microtransactions route there, but at this time it remains clear that any single-player mode will not be seeing that happening.
You can read about CDPR putting two thirds of its staff on Witcher 4 and why you should completely stay away from any microtransactions in Dragon Dogma 2.