Microtransactions aren’t new, nor will they be going anywhere anytime soon. However, this seems to be the year of unnecessary or icky microtransactions, as several games like Destiny 2, NBA 2K18, and Middle-earth: Shadow of War have come under fire lately for their messy implementation of them.
The next to join the list is Forza 7. After an already disastrous pre-load launch, it seems that the controversy doesn’t there; details surrounding the microtransactions in Forza 7 have now revealed (via Ars Technica), showing an unfortunate future that awaits players when the racing game launches next week.
In previous entries in the series, you could spend real money to obtain certain items outside of the CR coins, a currency used to purchase new cars and the like. CR could be earned pretty easily through simply playing and winning races in the game. The few microtransactions that did exist were somewhat fair, or at least excusable, but Forza 7 changes microtransactions and CR in an unfair and unrewarding way.
Also: Forza 7 Looks to be the Driving Force Behind the Xbox One X
Now, the so-called “prize crates” you purchase with CR contain not only new cars, but cosmetic options for your driver and a new mods. These mods aren’t for your car, but instead modify the actual races you participate in as a form of bounty or objective.
For instance, you can turn off various assists or modify your next competition into a night race in order to earn more CR. Before, you had the ability to do extra stuff like this in exchange for earning more CR. The unusual change is that you no longer get rewarded for these modifiers unless you already own the appropriate, limited consumable mod from a prize crate.
Forza 7 essentially forces you to spend the already hard-to-acquire CR to earn more CR. While that makes for sound business in the real world, it creates an unhealthy cycle as players will now be basically gambling on whether or not they will receive the car or driver outfit — out of more than 350 — they are looking for.
There are higher tiers of prize crates to purchase, but they cost a more significant amount of CR. Currently, there is no way to know if mods give enough CR to recuperate how much you would spend on the more expensive crates, though fans of the Forza series are understandably unhappy with these changes, and it remains to be seen just how much they will affect the final game. This is made only worse by the fact that Turn 10 does plan on adding a new form of currency called Tokens that will cost real money later on.
