Pokémon-like Temtem ditching monetisation in June ahead of one last major patch

eurogamer.net:

Developer Crema has announced it'll be removing all monetisation from its Pokemon-like creature-battler Temtem in an update scheduled for June, with one final major patch to follow before updates refocus on bug fixing and balance changes.

Crema shared the news in a lengthy post on Steam, which spent a lot of time addressing ongoing player complaints around a lack of major new content since launch, such as more islands, new Temtem, or additional multiplayer features. Broadly, the studio says Temtem's early access demonstrated major new content didn't have a significant impact on the game's player base, making it difficult to justify the development resources required — although other issues, such as mounting technical debt, are also cited as concerns.

After a lot of words, including some regret over having described the game as an «MMO» in its marketing material, Crema gets to the crux of its post: that it will release two more major updates for Temtem before development switches to more modest bug fixing and balance patches, as the studio's focus turns to new projects.

The first of these, officially known as update 1.7, arrives this June, three months shy of Temtem 1.0's second anniversary. It adds an Arcade Bar — the last bit of content promised as part of Temtem's Kickstarter campaign — where players can tackle a number of Temtem-themed mini-games, as well as core changes to remove all the game's monetisation. This, the studio says, is in response to it having «come to understand [players' displeasure about] Temtem having microtransactions as it drifts further from a live-service game».

As of June's update, it will no longer be possible to purchase Nova premium currency and all items that could previously only be bought with Nova — such as cosmetics and the battle-pass-style Tamer Pass — will be available to purchase using in-game Feathers. Then, in update 1.8, Crema