Dragon's Dogma 2 is currently the game everyone online seems to be playing. Clips of open world insanity proliferate on social media platforms as players get to grips with Capcom's latest genre-defining romp, which was partly to be expected. What took players by surprise, however, was the swathe of seemingly sinister microtransactions that were made available as soon as the single-player, $70 RPG went live, as well as rough technical performance on both PS5 and PC.
Capcom has responded to the intense waves of criticism received in a post on Steam, apologised for any inconvenience, and outlined how it intends to support DD2 moving forward. "Critical problems" such as crashes and freezing will remain the developer's highest priority, to be addressed in patches in the near future; the option of starting a new game is being investigated on PC first (currently, some steps are required), and the developer wants to look at improving performance where possible.
Maddeningly, on the subject of the paid extras that caused such a stink in the first place (which Capcom refers to as "paid DLC"), the Monster Hunter/Resident Evil developer/publisher simply reminds players that "all the items listed below can be obtained in-game or as paid DLC items" before advertising them again. It's a hell of a hustle, and if nothing else, we appreciate its brazen nature. The additions are available for any PlayStation players who wish to partake (we don't judge).
That said, the swathe of extras seemingly slipped in at launch is not a good look from a company that has a healthy amount of goodwill from increasingly cash-strapped fans. Still, it's also true that none of it is necessary, provided you exercise some financial self-control. We thought the inclusion of microtransactions in Dragon's Dogma 2 was disappointing more than anything else, and you can read our full thoughts on the matter in our review.