As Tekken 8's microtransactions face renewed criticism after $5 stage DLC, one dev explains just how expensive it is to make a fighting game in 2024

gamesradar.com:

Tekken 8 has been facing ever-increasing criticism from fighting game fans upset about the title's approach to monetization, and news that the new stage accompanying the revived Heihachi Mishima is a separate, $5 purchase appears to have been the breaking point. One member of the game industry has taken it upon himself to explain why the costs associated with game development in 2024 might be pushing the devs toward more aggressive monetization.

A few weeks after Tekken 8's launch, it got a microtransaction-filled cash shop for cosmetic items. Cynically-minded players were quick to note that this happened after the game's glowing critical and user reviews had poured in, and this all set a particularly negative tone around the game's monetization. Tekken 8 already launched with a $100 Deluxe Edition and $110 Ultimate Edition, promising access to additional costumes and the first year's worth of added characters, so the cash shop seemed particularly egregious.

As characters began to launch for $8 apiece, buyers of the more expensive editions were feeling particularly burned. You could get all four characters - by far the most substantial DLC content being released - for $32. That breaks roughly even with the Deluxe Edition and is a little cheaper than the Ultimate. Either way, the cash shop meant that no edition would get you full access to all the game's content, which has been an annoyance for players of many fighting games that have made the transition to the modern era.

The devs at Bandai Namco threw players a bone with the launch of DLC character Lidia, whose release was paired with the free Seaside Resort stage. While this stage was partly made up of reused content that was already in the game, it created an expectation among players that new stages might be added for free, helping to justify all the other expensive add-ons.

Last week, when the Genmaji Temple stage launched as a $5 purchase - not even included with Heihachi or any edition of the game - those