Anthem – Cosmetic Microtransactions and Shard Prices Revealed

BioWare have made it a point to clearly communicate that Anthem won’t be locking any of its content behind microtransactions, that all of the things that are purchasable in the in-game store can also be earned by grinding for them in the game itself. That said, while that is an option, for those who will be spending money on in-game cosmetics, what these items are priced at is a question that needs answering.

With Anthem now being available to PC and Xbox One users through Origin Access and EA Access respectively, the full details of its in-game pricing for cosmetics are beginning to come to light. Over at Reddit, those with access to the game have posted screenshots of how much the Shards, which is the in-game currency, cost in terms of CAD (USD prices in the image below), and screenshots of how much Shards or coins (which is what you get for grinding within the game itself) are needed to buy some of the cosmetic items in the shop.

A pack for 500 Shards will set you back by $4.99, which is roughly one cent per Shard, but there are, of course, other Shard packs available as well. You can also purchase 1050 Shards for $9.99, 2200 Shards for $19.99, and 4600 Shards for $39.99 (not accounting for Origin Access discounts).

But what exactly does this translate to? A second screenshot of the purchases available within the in-game store (currently) shows that legendary armour packs can be purchased for 850 Shards apiece, which translates to $8.50. For those of you who do not want to spend real money, these cost 61,000 coins each- how long it takes to grind out 61,000 coins is, of course, the question that needs to be answered, and that is the answer that will ultimately determine how balanced Anthem’s monetization is.

Regardless, we can at least be assured that there aren’t any loot boxes in the game, and that all post-launch content will be coming to all players for no additional cost at all. Anthem launches globally for the PS4, Xbox One, and PC on February 22.