Tekken 8 started off strong with widespread critical acclaim and impressive sales right out the gate, but Bandai Namco’s post-launch monetization approach for the fighter has irked fair few in its player base. The company’s decision to add an in-game microtransactions store a few weeks after release was met with significant backlash, and the recent decision to introduce battle pass has provoked a similar reaction.
That’s reflected in the game’s Steam user reviews. On the platform, the game’s recent reviews show a Mixed rating, with 40 percent of over 3,100 reviews in the last 30 days being negative. Unsurprisingly, the majority of negative user reviews for the game call out its in-game microtransactions store and newly-introduced battle pass, with several also pointing out that the base game cost $70 to begin with.
A little over a month ago, in the immediate aftermath of the announcement that Tekken 8 was adding an in-game store, director Katsuro Harada defended Bandai Namco’s decision to do so, citing rapidly increasing development costs, with Tekken 8 apparently having cost nearly thrice as much as its predecessor, and stating that consistent post-launch support for the game requires yet more investments.
Tekken 8 is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.