Tabletop miniature-inspired strategy title Moonbreaker has dropped all microtransactions, in a content update that majorly shakes up the game’s business model. Dev company Unknown Worlds announced on Wednesday that it was scrapping its loot box system and premium currency, while making attempts to spice up its in-game progression track.
The patch implementing these changes was released on Thursday, alongside new story content and some pretty significant gameplay tweaks. The upshot of this is that booster boxes are gone, and Moonbreaker’s three currencies of pulsars, boosters, and blanks, have all been consolidated into a single form of tender: sparks.
What’s more, Unknown Worlds say every premium-currency Pulsar purchase made since Moonbreaker’s early access launch on September 29 will be refunded, with the money going back into players’ Steam Wallets.
The patch also makes Season Track Progression less of a grind, and adds some extra cosmetic rewards that players can unlock.
As for why these changes were made: “Early Access is a time for us to experiment and improve the game, and the monetization in its current form was affecting that goal,” Unknown Worlds explained in a post on the game’s website. “So we’re removing it to focus on making the best game that we can, before we leave Early Access.”
Alongside overhauling Moonbreaker’s business model, the ‘Zax’s Story update’ also makes major gameplay adjustments, intended, according to a press release, “to bring it more in line with traditional miniatures and tabletop games”. The biggest change is that rather than drawing new units throughout a match, which gives the game some serious TCG vibes, you’ll start a match with your whole roster on the battlefield right away.
That certainly bringing it more in line with tabletop miniatures games like Warhammer 40k (unless you’re a sneaky Genestealer Cults player, that is).
There’s a lot of other little tweaks in the update that you can find in the game’s patch notes, along with a a second episode to Moonbreaker’s audio drama storyline.
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