Squad Busters fans raise alarm over new “pay-to-win” battle items
Squad Busters fans are already concerned about the “pay-to-win” battle items.
Squad Busters is a unique player-versus-player (PvP) or player-versus-environment (PvE) experience in which players build a strong squad and defeat other squads. This is Supercell’s upcoming game, which will soft launch in selected countries on April 23, 2024.
Squad Busters players begin the battle with only one character, but exploring and fighting give Coins that can be used to open Chests scattered on the map. Upon opening, the Chest gives you three Character options to add to your Squad.
With Chest opening being an integral part of the gameplay for Squad Busters, many fans voiced their concerns over the different keys available in the game. They were worried that the game would become “pay-to-win” due to such items.
There are three keys available in Squad Busters:
- Regular Keys let you open a free Chest in Battle
- Epic Keys allow you to open a free Chest in Battle full of Epic Characters (also slightly increases the chance of finding a Mega Unit)
- Fusion Keys can open a free Chest in Battle that gives a Fusion Character (increases the chance of finding a Mega unit).
A player shared their thoughts on Reddit, stating that they’ve never seen a multiplayer PvP game that allows you to buy things that can be used in battle that provide an advantage. They expect that these would be removed from the game.
In addition to these consumables, Squad Busters fans highlighted that the game is still PvP, and it wouldn’t feel right for them to lose a match because another player paid for a Mega unit. At the moment, a Mega unit can only be collected through the game’s Seasonal Gem Pass.
Another Reddit user reminded others that testing things is the reason why Squad Busters is going into a soft launch. They believe that the developers will be using this time to test every ‘dumb’ or ‘goofy’ idea to see what works and what doesn’t.
A Squad Busters fan stated that Supercell’s monetization is often on the verge of P2W, but works for them. The keys and the consumables didn’t look good for them, but they hoped for the best as the game seemed fun, and they were still hyped for it.
Squad Busters is still yet to be released and players will have to wait until they get their hands on it to see what the experience would be. I’m personally excited for the game as it has the cutest baby Supercell characters, seems a lot of fun, and would love to experience it, but sadly, my country wasn’t included in the list of countries for the soft launch.