Back 4 Blood‘s developer has no intention of introducing cosmetics deemed to be of the pay-to-win variety.
That’s according to studio co-founder Chris Ashton, at least, who recently sat down with EDGE Magazine to talk about the co-op survival shooter. Responsible for creating the original Left 4 Dead prior to its separation from Valve and re-founding back in 2011, Turtle Rock’s latest venture is, in all but name, a third installment in the series (Valve directly handled L4D2) that fans have essentially been waiting more than a decade for.
It’s not at all surprising, then, that the spiritual successor has already established for itself a legion of excited followers, but Ashton and the team are keenly aware that the introduction of a controversial system such as microtransactions could swiftly become a turn-off, especially for hardcore audiences. It’s likely because of this – and probably the generally negative press that surrounds them – that the company is very carefully mulling over the merits of their inclusion.
Speaking to the aforementioned publication, Ashton said (H/T, Reddit): “We know we want to have ongoing content after launch, but we’re still figuring out what that would be. If we do implement microtransactions, it would be for cosmetics only.”
There’s a good chance, therefore, that optional purchases will never even find their way into the zombie title, though it’s worth noting that skins and outfits are not synonymous with meaningful DLC such as new maps and characters. By observing Turtle Rock’s own rules, only items belonging to the former category would be considered for a premium in-game store. Whether this outcome would enable the delivery of free post-launch expansions is likely one of many variables that have prevented them from being ruled out entirely.
Whatever ends up happening, expect to hear more about Back 4 Blood prior to its release this summer, June 22nd, for consoles and PC.