Gaijin Entertainment Have Tanked It
by Robin Kneipp
Courtesy of Stefans02 via Flickr
In recent video games, there has been a noticeable increase in the amount that features some sort of in-game purchase mechanic; we all know the typical “freemium” mobile games. Recently, however, developers have been increasing the rate at which they charge extra money in their games. One recent example was when Gaijin Entertainment announced that the much-awaited Type 74 mod. G Main Battle Tank would be included in the latest update for their free-to-play MMO game War Thunder, but instead of being added as a researchable vehicle that could be obtained for free as many players had hoped, Gaijin announced that the tank would be available only as a premium. While there are many premium tanks, planes, ships and helicopters in War Thunder already, the Type 74 mod. G ruffled feathers due to its rank in the game. Regular players considered it unfair that new players could simply purchase the top tier vehicles without having to earn their spot at high tier matches legitimately. Gaijin previously stated in a developer blog that they would never add high-tier premium vehicles due to the imbalance that would create, but shortly afterwards added the XM-1 GM and XM-1 C for the American faction of the game, the T-55AM-1 for the Soviets, and the AMX-30 model 1965 for the French. While the Type 74 mod. G is placed in the Japanese faction, a fairly minor one within War Thunder, it sends a clear message about what Gaijin thinks about its player base – it doesn’t.
Gaijin has made no attempts to balance the game and stop players from simply being able to buy their way to victory rather than learn the ropes and earn their glory legitimately. While some might argue that it is fair for Gaijin to sell premium vehicles (the game is free to play, after all), it is unfair for a company to place profits before game quality and balance, no matter the reason.
