Ubisoft’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint officially releases today, and if you played the open beta, then you probably noticed a fair number of problems coming to light. For some who received early access through the various special editions, the in-game store was especially egregious. Along with cosmetics, weapons, and skins, players could also put down real money for different “time saver” bundles. These contained Skill Points, crafting materials, and upgrades for weapons, which are very much not “just cosmetic”.
Despite also being present in Ghost Recon Wildlands, Ubisoft has decided to remove these time saver items from the story. On the official forums, it stated, “With Ghost Recon Breakpoint, we always aimed at offering a fair and rewarding experience to our players however they want to experience our game, in solo, co-op, PvE or PvP.
“From the beginning, two key factors stood out as extremely important for the team: That Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint doesn’t include any pay-to-win elements, [and] to make sure that players not choosing to engage with in-game purchases do not see their experience affected. Players will be able to unlock skills and get access to plenty of varied loot and items by simply playing the game.”
Interestingly, the time savers weren’t necessarily removed because of backlash to so many microtransactions in a premium title. Their inclusion was actually unintentional and an “error on our behalf”, as per Ubisoft.
“These items were designed as an optional way for players arriving later to the game (Post-Launch) to catch up with those who have been playing for longer and enjoy our co-op and challenging end-game experiences,” Ubisoft wrote. “These Time-Savers have since been removed from our Store for now.
“Time-Savers were not designed to grant any advantage over players choosing not to use them. Additionally, Ghost War PVP has been carefully balanced to ensure that no matter your experience as a player, no one has a critical advantage based on their progression.”
That doesn’t mean they’re gone for good. Time savers will return at some point, but in the meantime, the development team will be “will be monitoring the game’s economy and balancing carefully.” Given all the negative feedback that a title like Assassin’s Creed Odyssey received for its XP rewards, it’s possible Ubisoft is looking for a better balance in Breakpoint to avoid similar backlash. We’ll see if that pans out in the coming months.
