Warhammer 40K: Darktide players are narked about the game’s monetisation
Is buying a specific amount of in-game currency really “immeasurably complex”?
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide launched on November 30th following several weeks of pre-order beta, but some players are already rather ticked off that the full-price game includes microtransactions. In particular, Darktide players are miffed that the co-op action game offers bundles of its Aquila premium currency that fall just short of the cost of some items in the store, meaning you’d have to stump up for several bundles to afford those. Taking to Darktide’s Discord to ask why you can’t just buy a specific amount of Aquilas for the items you want, one player was told by a spokesperson for Fatshark that adding such a feature would be “immeasurably complex”.
Community manager Hedge made the comment in response to a player’s question asking why there wasn’t the option to buy exactly the right amount of Aquila needed to obtain Darktide’s skins. “We're not silent on the Aquilas,” Hedge replied, “you're honestly the first person I've seen to ask about it (we are hoping to add a ‘buy what you need’ feature, it's just immeasurably complex so isn't gonna happen over night).”
Since then, the phrase has become something of a meme. Search the Darktide Discord for “immeasurably complex” and you’ll see community members using it sarcastically about different aspects of the game. The “immeasurably complex” phrase soon spread to the Darktide subreddit and the game's Steam discussions, too.
The devs’ previous game, Vermintide 2, didn’t have this issue at launch. Cosmetic microtransactions were added a few years later, though. It also hasn’t helped the debate around Darktide's microtransactions that players have found that the game’s Discord FAQ has been edited to remove a mention of earning premium currency through play.
Whether letting players decide exactly how many Aquilas they want to buy is beyond the abilities of mere mortals is debatable. Yet lost amongst the sarky comments is the suggestion that Fatshark are working on implementing the feature, along with implementing more hotfixes to tackle some of the game’s issues. If you’re wondering if Darktide’s worth it then check out AliceO.’s impressions.
Warhammer 40,000: Darktide costs £33/$40/€40 on Steam and the Microsoft Store. If you’re a PC Game Pass subscriber then you can download it that way instead.