Dragon’s Dogma 2 sales have surpassed 2.5 million units, ten days after its March 22 release date, Capcom has said.
22.03.2024 - 11:59 / ign.com / Hideaki Itsuno
Dragon’s Dogma 2 has enjoyed a huge day-one on PC, but it has also sparked a vociferous debate about microtransactions.
The fantasy action adventure game has 21 separate microtransactions available day-one, ranging in price from $0.99 to $4.99. Offerings include an Explorer’s Camping Kit for $2.99, a gaol key that lets you escape from gaol for $0.99, a Portcrystal warp location marker for $2.99, and Wakestones that restore the dead to life for $0.99 each.
These microtransactions have sparked a controversy not just for the sheer number available day-one, but because they make parts of the game deliberately designed to challenge players in certain ways either easier, less frustrating, or quicker. Players have already pointed out that these microtransactions help with fast-travel, which in Dragon's Dogma 2 is restricted. Players require expensive and rare Ferrystones to teleport to designated Portcrystals. A Portcrystal, which costs $2.99 as a microtransaction, can be set at a destination of your choice. You then use a Ferrystone to instantly transport your party to the Portcrystal's location. (For more, here's How Fast Travel Works and How to Get Ferrystones.)
Ahead of the game’s release, director Hideaki Itsuno told IGN why the development team wanted players to travel normally and experience the world around them. “Just give it a try. Travel is boring? That's not true. It's only an issue because your game is boring. All you have to do is make travel fun,” Itsuno said.
“That's why you place things in the right location for players to discover, or come up with enemy appearance methods that create different experiences each time, or force players into blind situations where they don't know whether it's safe or not ten meters in front of them.”
“We've put a lot of work into designing a game where you can stumble across someone and something will happen, so while it's fine if it does have fast travel, we decided to design the map in a way that the journey [itself] could be enjoyed. In the same kind of way [in real life] that you may deliberately choose to go by bike or on foot when traveling [instead of taking faster options].”
The Explorer’s Camping Kit microtransaction has also raised eyebrows. In Dragon’s Dogma 2, camping kits are used to make camp while out exploring, and offer you and your party brief respite from combat to recover and prepare. Elsewhere, the $1.99 Art of Metamorphosis lets players edit their character’s appearance or the appearance of a pawn. It can be used only once when visiting a barberie. You can edit character appearance in Dragon’s Dogma 2 without buying this microtransaction, but it costs a sizeable chunk of in-game currency.
Exacerbating matters is the fact Dragon’s Dogma 2 is a $70
Dragon’s Dogma 2 sales have surpassed 2.5 million units, ten days after its March 22 release date, Capcom has said.
Capcom is seeking feedback on Dragon’s Dogma 2 following the game’s release last week.
Capcom has detailed some of its planned updates for Dragon’s Dogma 2.
Capcom took to the Steam forums to address Dragon's Dogma 2 player backlash after the game was review bombed. Most of the negative criticism is due to the appearance of several microtransaction items after Dragon's Dogma 2 was released on Steam, including some that jeopardize all the claims that director Hideaki Itsuno and the team have made about the game's intended design.
Capcom has responded to Dragon’s Dogma 2 players who have criticised the game’s use of microtransactions as well as performance issues on PC.
Getting around the massive map of Capcom’s RPG sequel can feel like a chore if you’re not in the mood to walk everywhere. Fortunately, there are a couple of ways to fast travel in Dragon’s Dogma 2.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 has enjoyed near-universal acclaim from critics, though in the immediate aftermath of its release, the open world action RPG has sparked controversy following the emergence of an in-game microtransactions store, on top of technical and performance issues found in the game’s PC version. In an update on Steam, Capcom has addressed a number of these issues, as part of which the developer confirms that it will also be adding the option to start new saves to the game’s Steam version.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 has released to mixed reviews on Steam, with numerous players expressing unhappiness at the game’s list of microtransactions.
Capcom has confirmed it is aware of frame rate issues in Dragon's Dogma 2 on PC and is looking to improve performance in the future.
In the run-up to the release of open world RPG Dragon’s Dogma 2, developer and publisher Capcom has revealed that it is aware of inconsistencies in the game’s frame rate performance on PC in particular. In a statement to IGN, Capcom has revealed that it is looking into ways in which it can improve the performance of the game.
Capcom's highly anticipated fantasy RPG, is finally due to be released on March 22, 2024, more than a decade after the release of the original game, but PC players may want to hold off on purchasing the game for now. Recent reports indicate that the game experiences severe frame rate performance problems on the platform.
Nearly 12 years after game director Hideaki Itsuno released Dragon’s Dogma on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is finally almost here. Since the original game debuted, Capcom has released Dragon’s Dogma spinoffs, semi-sequels, and ports to varying degrees of success, but the highly anticipated sequel looks poised to break out.