Tekken 8's latest update has been met with a wave of negative user reviews, bringing its overall Steam rating down to "mixed". Most of these negative reviews criticise the battle pass, which was added to the game in the latest patch.

The battle pass, or fight pass, keeps some new content behind a paywall. There is a free tier for those who don't want to buy microtransactions, but this means that you'll be locked out of earning certain items. With Tekken 8 already launching with a $70 price tag, many feel that it's not fair to charge players extra to unlock these items.

"Love Tekken but adding a cash shop and battle pass 2 months after launch in a $70 game is maybe the scummiest bait and switch I’ve ever seen," reads one negative review. "I’d refund if I could."

"Bandai Namco went full greed-mode," reads another. "Scummy doesn't even begin to describe it, I can't recommend a product that's leaning so heavily towards such shady practices."

Some negative reviews also call out Bandai Namco's stance on mods. This comes after somemodders said their Tekken 8 videos were hit with copyright strikes because they used mods in their games. It doesn't seem as if any players have been banned for modding their games yet, so it's unclear why the company has an issue with modded games.

Fighting games are full of controversial microtransactions
Ever since live services took off, the fighting game genre has embraced almost every aspect of them, especially their monetisation practices. While microtransactions are typically used to support free-to-play games, many fighting games will launch with a $60 or $70 price tag, and then charge players for loot anyway. New characters are almost always put behind a paywall, as well as new outfits.

Tekken 8's fight pass was added to the game last week alongside the first DLC fighter, Eddy Gordo. The fighter's addition to the roster was overshadowed by the reveal of the fight pass, which was immediately met with backlash. Many called on players to boycott the game in response, and even if that hasn't panned out, they are certainly making their feelings known.

Posted: Apr 10, 2024 8:30 pm
Related Forum: Gaming Discussion

Source: https://www.thegamer.com/tekken-8-steam-reviews-mixed-fight-battle-pass-controversy/