2K recently officially unveiled LEGO 2K Drive, a AAA open world LEGO-themed racer developed by Visual Concepts, and while there’s plenty about the game that’s caught the eye of many, it turns out there will be some aspects of the experience that are likely to cause a bit of a stir among the masses.
One of those, sadly enough, will be microtransactions, which shouldn’t be a surprise for the majority of games releasing in the modern era. Speaking in an interview with Wccftech, LEGO 2K Drive’s creator director Brian Silva revealed that the racing game will feature an in-game store where players will be able to purchase “optional” items like vehicles and minifigures.
Two different kinds of items will be available, with one being purchasable through a currency that’ll be earned through gameplay, and another that will have to be bought using coins that players will have to acquire by purchasing them with real money.
“LEGO 2K Drive features an in-game store, Unkie’s Emporium, where players can acquire optional items including new vehicles, minifigures and more,” said Silva.”There are two types of items in the store, ones that can be purchased using Brickbux earned through playing, or ones that can be purchased using coins obtained through a real currency purchase.”
Silva went on to assure that the game will make “safety and responsibility” a top priority where its microtransactions are concerned, especially when it comes to children who’ll be playing the game.
“Safety and responsibility was a top priority for us when creating LEGO 2K Drive,” he said. “To ensure parents can make the right decisions for their kids, to make purchases a player must create a 2K Account. If the player is underage, their account must be verified by an adult, who then has the ability to block in-game money purchases.”
Microtransactions are rarely ever received well by wider audiences, to say the very least, and the fact that purchasable items in the game’s store will also include things such as vehicles is bound to raise some concerns. It remains to be seen what exactly Silva means when he says they will be “optional”. Given the fact that the game will cost $70 on current-gen consoles, this detail is likely going to be even less popular than it would have been otherwise.
LEGO 2K Drive will launch on May 19 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.