Loot boxes and microtransactions have become so sadly prevalent at this point that we have reached a stage where we celebrate a new game not having them. It’s an unfortunate state of affairs- but in this case, State of Decay 2 not including loot boxes probably is something that should be lauded- especially since they are a trend that other Microsoft games, like Halo 5 and Forza 7, have been all too happy to embrace.
Speaking to MCV UK, Undead Labs design director Richard Foge discussed how their inclusion simply didn’t seem to make sense for the kind of game that they were aiming to make with State of Decay 2.
“It didn’t make sense for our game” said Foge. “There’s going to be a one-time price for it, rather than a relationship with the game where people pay for things and don’t know what they’re going to get. That shouldn’t feel right. We didn’t want microtransactions or where you’re buying loot boxes with Zombucks or anything.”
It is good to see a developer realizing that not giving a paying player what they paid for is pretty bad form- in general, it seems like more and more developers have come around to this way of thinking. Hopefully, in the future, loot boxes will have become a thing of the past entirely. They have no place in a video game.
