Ubisoft justifies the optional DLC packs for €85 at the launch of "Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced", which together cost more than the actual game.
Following significant community criticism of the pricing at launch, the publisher officially stated that the paid add-on content was not essential for the gameplay experience. Despite this successful releases Negative user reviews temporarily pushed the average rating down to the "balanced" range.
Pay-to-win allegations overshadow record sales launch
The remake of the pirate adventure achieved the strongest series launch on Steam in the platform's history, with over 300.000 pre-orders and around $14 million in revenue. At the same time, the monetization model faced fierce backlash.
Ubisoft is offering a total of eight separate DLC packs at launch, including cosmetic items, ship upgrades, and character packs. Those who purchase the Standard Edition for €70 will have to pay an additional €85 for all the extra content. Buyers of the Deluxe Edition, also for €85, will only receive two of the packs and will have to invest another €65 for the remaining ones.
Players are primarily criticizing the fact that these microtransactions aren't purely cosmetic. The packages provide tangible gameplay advantages. This is classic pay-to-win in a full-price single-player title. Unacceptable. Ubisoft responded directly to a widely discussed Steam review, emphasizing that the standard version delivers the complete experience without any content cuts.
"We've been following your feedback since launch and read every single piece. Thank you for your passion for Black Flag Resynced. We want to make one thing clear: the Standard Edition offers the full, complete game experience. Every mission, every island, the entire story, and the entire game world are included – without any limitations. The DLC packs are purely optional extras for players who wish to use them and are in no way a requirement to enjoy or complete the game."
Ubisoft's tactic with hidden costs
Historically speaking, this approach is not surprising. Ubisoft has been using microtransactions and time-saving DLCs as a reliable source of revenue for years in single-player titles like "Assassin's Creed Odyssey" and "Valhalla." The communication, however, remains unclear.
The publisher concealed the existence of these purchase options beforehand and only unlocked them on the day of release. This salami tactic prevents pre-release reviews from the gaming press from factoring in the real-money shortcuts in their final scores. PC gamers traditionally react more sensitively to such mechanics than console users, which explains the initial negative reviews on Steam.
Ubisoft's claim is technically correct. The main game can be completed in its entirety without any additional costs. The DLCs merely accelerate progress by providing better equipment. Anyone wanting to experience the original 2013 game balance should completely ignore the in-game shop. However, the game's design clearly prioritizes these in-game purchases over the DLCs. Buyers should refrain from purchasing microtransactions to avoid retroactively legitimizing this publishing practice.
Honestly, all these DLCs were already available in other Assassin's Creed games, and nobody complained then. But that shows who the real Assassin's Creed fans are: just followers who play the game for two months for the content, but aren't really into it. I don't have to buy anything, but I do because I enjoy the game and I've played all the Assassin's Creed games so far.
That may be true, but removing the minimap is a definite downgrade in my opinion. That compass bar is completely useless.
If only they were skins with a pirate theme. But: simply don't buy them. That's the only solution.
They're really overdoing it now…
Read Roland Hünniger! It's all voluntary and purely cosmetic. Besides, you can earn everything through gameplay. The main thing is to hate again.
Paddy Leuschner, brainpower is also in short supply for you, isn't it?? 😂
Of course... just cosmetic garbage, but still a Day 1 DLC
Well, they also cut content like the story DLC. That makes sense.
Philip Kuhlmann: Who knows. Maybe that will happen.
Philip Kuhlmann: But we also received missions that were cut from the original version.
Who cares? Nobody complains about €30 skins in Diablo for characters that just zip across the screen. 😄 It's all optional, and as long as it's not, I don't care. ✌️
Sascha Kroll, there were more than enough complaints about that.
Like I said, it's strange that Ubisoft is making such a fuss about this. GTA 6 costs €100 with all content. Black Flag Remake isn't even full price; on the PSN store, the regular version costs €60, the PC version €50, and if you buy it from key resellers, it's probably €10 cheaper. So, are we even talking about this? And the fact that the skins are pay-to-win, yeah, maybe, but who cares? It's a single-player game; you're not competing against anyone. If the game is too hard on normal, just switch to easy, since you can't unlock anything on hard anyway. Also, here's a tip: set the Finnish key combination to R1, like normal combat. This makes you practically overpowered, no matter the difficulty level. Or go hunting, for example, on an island with lots of small animals (there's a pendant that gives double the amount of animal resources). Then you can exchange the bones for materials, and you don't need to use a hapoon. My Edward is fully maxed out, and I have 20 hours of playtime. Also, there are currently four skins; do you have to own them all? Especially since you can only wear one armor set in the game? Seriously, you should be complaining about Sony banning players on their YouTube channels for posting "no disc, no bye." Sony, the new North Korea 2.0.
All voluntary
Why get upset about content that's mostly cosmetic? If you absolutely must have unrealistic fantasy elements for ship and character cosmetics, feel free to pay for that nonsense; I understand Ubisoft's monetization strategy. If you're simply looking for a well-made remake, the €60 price tag is more than enough. If you want to save time on collectibles, you can pay a one-time fee of €4.99 for everything (or be foolish enough to pay €4.99 for each individual collectible).
In short: no need to get upset about it…