How will new classes be unlocked?

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide General Discussion
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Will they be paid-only, free and unlockable, free and unlocked, or some combination of these?

If they’re paid-only, that’s verging on free-to-play territory. Given that this isn’t a free-to-play game, that would be an issue for me.

I’m fine with paying up-front for the game and for incidentals like cosmetics, but paying for the game and then being expected to pay for character classes would leave a sour taste, especially given that DT will launch with less than a third of the classes that V2 did.

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I don’t think Fatshark has given a definitive answer yet beyond more or less saying “we’re weighing our options.”

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Hopefully they announce their decision before launch. It’d suck to drop $60 for 4 classes and then be told I have to pay for the rest.

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Thats certainly a legitimate question considering that new classes cost money in Vermintide 2 and that wasnt a Free-to-Play game either. I mean, sure Vermintide 2 could now be seen as the staple for Tide games and every future game has to start with either 15-25-50, depending on how many new classes are added per game.

We could also shame Fatshark for now deliberately holding back new classes just to get more money, only because Vermintide 2 had 15 at release and that should be standard now. We could also say that money hungry Fatshark has already stolen +100€ from me for all the paid content they delivered for Vermintide 2 + the release version.

I mean, damn, they stated they want to release a new career every quarter and one new career in Vermintide 2 costs like 4€. 4€ every quarter of the year. That is huge, man.

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I think I might be sensitive to it right now because of the horrendous way Overwatch 2 has handled new characters, but even in V2 I wasn’t keen on paying to unlock characters.

I kind of gave it a pass though (and even bought the Outcast Engy), because the main game that I got with the outright payment was reasonably expansive.

Splitting the playerbase with paid map-based expansions is a real issue in my region. It’s pretty much a lethal injection for the game where I play. From that angle, paying for character unlocks is a better option and I’d be ok with that if the base game was (considerably) cheaper than a full-price release. At the moment it isn’t.

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"While we are not ready to announce specific dates, it is safe to say that we aim to release one new class every quarter.

We haven’t fully decided if we will charge for new and upcoming classes, but that is an option we are discussing. This isn’t our way of trying to bait and switch anyone. Fatshark has always prided itself on being very player-centric. We want to stay true to that in our monetization practices. We never intend to split our player base - you can expect in-game content, such as new areas, game modes, and missions, to remain free. We’ve learned a lot, and we think we have done a good job in Vermintide with our monetization of cosmetics and careers, and we are looking to that and other areas of feedback before we make a final decision."

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide - Classes in Darktide - Steam News (steampowered.com)

Fair to assume that classes will be paid content along with cosmetics, with maps etc. being free.

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Cheers. I think it’s reasonable for them to announce their plans before launch so that people know what they’re getting for their initial purchase and what they’re going to be expected to pay for in the future.

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For sure. I’d like to know one way or the other what their plans are prior to launch - but I’m also in the boat that I know I’ll be buying and playing regardless. I’m just on this train for you guys where the ongoing monetization could be a deal breaker.

Hope they give a solid answer soon :slight_smile:

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If we follow the V2 DLC class model it’s simple: by paying.
Pay once to unlock the class.
Pay twice for the cosmetic challenge unlocks.

Gaming as a service sure is great :slight_smile:

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I really hope they provide players with at least 2-3 options per character class before they start reaching into our wallets. Obviously, 4 would be nicer, if only because that has worked well imho for VT2.

That said, I am not 100% clear on how character development is supposed to work and if we are even able to swap between careers or if we are locked into our choices and have to do the mighty grind to add new builds to our character selection (which I would hate tbh).

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I have a sneaky suspicion they will push for selling these as “optional” DLCs more than in Vermintide 2.

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Same. I do hope there will be at least one more fully free class per career, but I’m not going to hold my breath for it.

SAAS really does feel like it’s more in the developers’ interests than the consumers, most of the time.

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my prediction is that they are aware that they can’t take money for all new classes
but they won’t let the opportunity slide to milk us either

so i assume we first will see some gratis classes added (considering the abysmal feedback they kinda have to)

and then when most of us calmed down they will probably try to sneak in one or two “special” classes.
rinse and repeat until it becomes an even split

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I’d love for Fatshark to pull another Chaos Wastes. That update bought back so much good will, that I went out of my way to purchase a pack of cosmetics.

It’s a shame that most modern metric-based game developers only check engagement numbers and ramp up the grind and microtransactions instead of considering a more trust based approach to the playerbase. Most players are fiercly loyal to a game that they genuinely love, especially when the devs treat them fairly instead of considering them as living piggy banks. That loyalty more often than not translates into monetry good will, but it has to be coming form the player not being forced upon him.

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