Need For Speed: No Limits had a limited launch just recently, and the result wasn’t as good as EA wanted it to be. Here we take a look at how EA is milking a loved franchise into a cash cow.
1. Players are charged to fill up the fuel tank.
Yes. Take a few seconds to sink that in. If, on a particular day, you decide to binge a few levels or share your phone with a bored friend and he finishes up your fuel, you will have to buy it to continue playing. The alternative method for fuel, wait a few hours till it fills back up again. I agree that many other games (Ubisoft’s Trials Frontier) use the same energy meter, but that does NOT mean that it’s OK. The games that use a similar mechanic are mindless time-wasters who take advantage of our love for the genre and a particular franchise to make it mundane and unenjoyable without throwing money around to complete every second building. Oh wait! EA already did that with Dungeon Keeper, another loathed game, but they made a lot of money, so guess what?
2. The microtransactions are ridiculously expensive
EA has been known for implementing an absurd amount of microtransactions. If the recent Dungeon Keeper was not enough to validate that point, we have Need for Speed: No Limit with different in-game currencies. Gold being the premium, it is used to buy all sorts of recharges and upgrades. Since the game has not made it to Indian shores, we have a list from the European store to give you an idea of the absurd amount of money they charge. The worst part is that, even if you do decide that there are no better games to spend what equals ₹3500, even spending that amount doesn’t make NFS: No Limits without Limits possible. You’ll have to dish out way more in order to access all the content in the game. I fail to understand why gamers willingly exploit themselves like this, but since EA seems to make money, I guess there are people out there who live in an isolated bubble sphere and have no idea that anything else exists. Shout if you can hear me. Go play Asphalt 8: Airborne.
Here is a list of the Top In-App Purchases (in Euros)
- Safe Deposit Box: €1.99 = ₹138.36
- Suitcase: €4.99 = ₹346.95
- Sports Bag: €9.99 = ₹694.60
- Stash: €19.99 = ₹1389.90
- Bank Vault: €49.9 = ₹3469.55
3. Delayed launch in India, timed iOS exclusive
Need for Speed: No Limits has seen a limited launch as of now and that too only on iOS devices. Oh, we can try and fall flat on out faces miserably, but EA will just stand there on its mountains of cash and gated content walls, laughing at us. I believe limited launches were meant to gather feedback, and even with such huge backlash, EA have not made any changes to the formula. That makes it clear where its priorities lie. Money making cow clickers are still in fashion it seems.
Disclaimer: The tone of the article is intended as comic relief.
Image Credit: Android police
