Injustice 2, NetherRealm’s sequel to the 2013 DC superhero fighting game, plans to add new features to the game. One of those features is the new gear system.
After a fight, players have the opportunity to receive loot in the form of gear pieces. The pieces can help players customize their characters to their taste. The pieces, however, can also grant stat bonuses to a player’s character. This prospect worries players, as it could introduce “pay-to-win” elements down the road. Brian Goodman of NetherRealm spoke to Eurogamer at EGX and tried to dispel these concerns.
“We anticipated what some of the hesitation might be from players and are developing intelligently to deliver something which will hopefully appeal to all of our fans, whether you’re a hardcore fighting game enthusiast or a more casual fan,” Goodman told Eurogamer. “There’s been a lot of discussion on how best to communicate this because we are, obviously, throwing a bit of a monkey wrench in the works as far as some fighting game purists might find. We’re doing things to make sure people who want a pure fighting game can get that.”
The concept behind the gear system is that there are two tiers of gameplay. One tier is meant to offer stat-changing pieces of gear for more hardcore players; and more casual tier is meant to only give players cosmetic pieces. It is the hardcore tier that worries players. The introduction of gear that changes a character’s stats can unbalance gameplay. Goodman admitted as much, but mentioned that there are modes that offer a balanced playing field.
“We’re creating modes where it’s an even playing field and you can gear up for aesthetic reasons but your character stats are on an even plane. We also have modes where gear actually impacts your strength, which is a whole new level of strategy.
“For instance if you’re Superman you’re likely going to want to increase his offense, since he’s a character that likes to come in close and do a ton of damage then hang back and use his special power. That’s likely the type of gear you’re going to want to hunt down if you play that character.
“Online we’re going to look at matchmaking so players are matched like-for-like, but it will be fundamentally unbalanced at that point.
“For the hyper competitive tournaments, we want those to still be places people can show off the customization they have earned throughout the game but they have to be level playing fields. That’s essential for true fighting game aficionados.”
Eurogamer points out that this is similar to Destiny’s Iron Banner and Crucible competitive multiplayer modes. Iron Banner allows advantages from gear; Crucible does not.
The modes in Injustice 2 are not directly worrying. The worry players have is that NetherRealm will try going the route of Overwatch and offering a loot box system that will reward stat-changing items. Goodman was asked if “pay-to-win” items like that would be introduced to the game.
“We haven’t made any announcements about that, but I can say that’s not part of our plan right now,” was his response.
