Payday 2 developer Starbreeze has admitted it “tousled” when it launched a premium subscription service alongside mountaineering the value of its $100 DLC bundle by 50%.
The subscription — launched earlier this week — bundled “full entry to greater than 65 DLCs, full of heists, weapons, and cosmetics… for a low month-to-month price” of $4.99 monthly, or $19.99 for six months. On the time, the corporate stated it allowed gamers to “discover Payday 2’s large content material library at their very own tempo, mastering the artwork of heisting one crime at a time” and the subscription — out there through Steam — will be canceled at anytime.”
Starbreeze didn’t, nevertheless, warn gamers considering of shopping for the Payday 2 Notorious Assortment that it had quietly elevated the value from $100 to $150 at the start of September, just some weeks earlier than it launched the subscription. Followers slammed the developer for “making an attempt to slide [the price rise] underneath the radar.”
Now, in an announcement to GameDeveloper, head of business Gustav Nisser admitted the developer had “dropped the ball on coordinating internally and speaking with our group correctly.”
“The destructive response makes full sense, and the group has made it clear how the value change and its timing appears from the skin,” Nisser stated. “We agree with the group, we tousled on this one, and we have now reverted the value on the bundle efficient instantly.”
He continued: “In hindsight we must always have realized how it will appear. For the reason that bundle solely expenses for the gadgets you do not personal, and the bundle low cost is cumulative with every other reductions (i.e. reductions on the included gadgets), the precise full worth of the bundle can range considerably.”
“Heisters – we have seen the suggestions on the Infamy Assortment pricing change that occurred earlier this month, and have investigated,” Starbreeze instructed gamers on X/Twitter. “The pricing has been reverted to the place it ought to be, and we apologize for this error.”
Starbreeze’s Haua additionally defined on Reddit: “I do know that nobody will imagine me, nevertheless it was an error. Regardless, the harm has been completed, and we hope that with this adjustment again that anybody who hoped to get any DLC can accomplish that by means of the gathering.
“We do recognize everybody who flagged the difficulty, and saved speaking about it! Sustain being you, guys, and we hope that we will earn again any belief that will have been misplaced with this.”
A fast verify on Steam.db confirms the value for the Notorious Assortment has certainly now been reverted, though it isn’t clear if anybody who’s paid the extra 50% cost over the previous couple of weeks can declare again the distinction.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, in addition to a critic, columnist, and marketing consultant with 15+ years expertise working with a few of the world’s greatest gaming websites and publications. She’s additionally a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually Excessive Chaos. Discover her at BlueSky.
