Payday 2's controversial ?1.60 drill tweaked following microtransactions outcry
Unscrewed.
PayDay 2 developer Overkill has tweaked the way one of its controversial in-game items works following an outcry over last week's addition of microtransactions to the game.
The multiplayer shooter's recent Black Market Update let you crack open safes for random drops of loot - but you had to buy a £1.60 drill to open them.
Inside the safes are weapon skins with gameplay-changing effects you can either use yourself or choose to sell on. Many players have labelled these weapon skins pay-to-win items.
The whole thing links up with Steam's own Community Market, where items can be resold or traded among players. It's a similar system to other shooters such as Team Fortress 2, although that game is available for free.
Now, Overkill has tweaked PayDay 2 to include the drills in normal loot drops, meaning you can earn them through normal play.
Here's the relevant part of the patch notes:
It's not a full back-track on PayDay 2's controversial microtransactions as you can still buy those drills for real world cash. And it's worth remembering that Overkill once promised players microtransactions would never be added to the game. But it's a tweak in the right direction.
As you'd expect, the PayDay 2 community, still seething from the addition of microtransactions, has cast a cynical eye on the move.
