The most recent instalment in the Pokemon series, Pokémon Unite, has proven successful. Despite this, the game has been criticized for its “pay-to-win” business strategy, which is one of its most significant problems.
It has only been a short while since the global launch of Pokémon Unite, a free multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) for Nintendo Switch based on the Pokémon franchise. Despite this, it has already proven to be a complete success as it has managed to get millions of downloads and players immersed in this new experience, which TiMi Studio Group and The Pokémon Company developed.
Despite this, the game’s release has not been immune to criticism, as many gamers have voiced their worries about the aggressive microtransaction model that Nintendo has included.
Pokemon Unite and how it makes money
While it’s common to discover a barrier in free-to-play games like League of Legends and Fortnite, the vast majority of the items behind these paywalls are just decorative and do not improve your gameplay or provide you with any benefit.
On the other hand, this is not the situation with Pokémon Unite since many of its users have decided to concentrate on bringing to light the game’s exploitative microtransaction system. One of them is Not Nathan Drake, a Reddit user. He warned about the game by illustrating how heavily pay-to-win elements are integrated into its monetization structure.
The Reddit user claims that the individual has a great deal of expertise in the field since he markets himself as a creator of free-to-play mobile games who specializes in striking the optimal balance between commercialization and the enjoyment of the game’s players.
Therefore, after playing the game in multiple matches, he concluded that Pokémon UNITE is very imbalanced in this respect. He came to this conclusion by outlining the five most prevalent monetization tactics, of which only a maximum of two should be employed in MOBAs:
● The levels of the Cosmetics Battle Pass
● The Gacha Pull Amount Rises
● Acquisition of characters
● Items that improve the gameplay
When all five of the points that the Reddit user mentions are taken into consideration simultaneously, they can potentially ruin the gaming experience to a significant degree. In addition, parents need to pay extra attention to their children who play games online because it is risky when a game has such an aggressive method of monetization and a large number of microtransactions available.
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Why does Pokémon Unite use a pay-to-win business model?
This is primarily because the in-game store for Pokémon Unite sells items that modify the percentage of the damage they deal, the movement speed they grant, the healing they grant, and passive healing, among other things. As a result, even if you have just started playing, you can spend a few dollars to make your Pokémon more powerful.
If you sign up to play Pokémon Unite, in the beginning, you will have a lot of fun because you will receive some characters as a gift as part of the introduction and for the initial launch campaigns; however, once that initiation is complete, you will begin to notice that its system of progression will get a bit tricky. If you want to have a lot of fun playing Pokémon Unite, you must sign up to play it. If you want to have a lot of fun playing Pokémon Unite, you will have
This is because, to continue making progress within the game, such as unlocking one or two characters, improving your Held Items, or even getting new styles for your character and your Pokémon, you will most likely need in-game currencies such as the Aeos Coins and the Aeos Tickets.
The only way to unlock additional content is to use the game’s premium currency, which is referred to as Aeos Gems. This is because the number of coins awarded as a reward for each game played is relatively low, and there is a weekly cap on the maximum number of coins that can be obtained.
Charles has some things to say about this.
Because of this, after some time has passed, you will eventually reach a point where you will no longer be able to compete on the same level as other people unless you spend a sufficient amount of money on improving the statistics of your Pokémon and items, which is something that very few people can do at any given time.
According to remarks made by Charles “Cr1TiKaL” White in one of his more recent gameplays, the average cost of levelling up any of the Held Items to level 20 is USD 40. Considering there are currently 16 of these, you would need to spend USD 640 to level them up to their maximum potential.
You may see Cr1TiKaL’s gameplay in the following video, in which he demonstrates the impact that Pokémon Unite’s microtransaction model has:
The only thing that we can say about Pokémon Unite from our end is that even though it offers a fantastic gaming experience, the fact that it combines a well-liked gaming subgenre known as multiplayer online battle arenas (MOBAs) with such a well-known franchise makes it sad that Nintendo is attempting to use the Pokémon brand to cover a game with an extremely harsh transaction system.
This is without discounting the fact that, in due time, those players who desire to play competitively but lack the finances to enhance their armament will find themselves pressed beyond their capabilities due to the pay-to-win system used in the game.
