“Huh, I wonder why Activision isn’t charging real money for any of this?” is what many cynical gamers probably though when first sifting through Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled’s Pit Stop.
Accessed via the main menu, this in-game shop is stocked with a variety of bonus items players can to pimp their ride including new karts, characters, skins, decals, wheels, and stickers.
Up until now, these have all been purchasable using Nitro-Fueled’s virtual currency, Wumpa Coins. You get coins from doing just about anything when connected to the game’s online servers. Even if you’re sticking to the story mode or coming last in every race, you’ll see a steady income of coins that you can then spend in the Pit Stop with regular weekend and daily bonus multipliers.
However, with the next leg of the Twilight Tour kicking off this Friday, players will be able to eradicate this grind – as long as they’re willing to spend some real cash. Of course, we’re talking about microtransactions. Here’s the official update on changes being made to the Pit Stop very soon:
As always, the Pit Stop will be stocked with new and returning characters and cosmetic items, which players can unlock using Wumpa Coins. With all this content available, there will also now be a way for players to fast-track their Wumpa Coin collection if they like. Starting in early August, players will have the option to purchase Wumpa Coin bundles from their game console stores to supplement the Coins they earn by playing. This option won’t change the game’s core mechanics – players will still earn Wumpa Coins by playing the game in any mode, just as before. They will just able to purchase additional coins if they choose.
It’s unknown what changes are being made to the Pit Stop to accommodate the introduction of microtransactions. Right now, it offers a random selection of available items each day – will this update allow players to pick and choose cosmetic items from the store freely?
Also, we’re curious which items will be up for grabs. There are certain unlocks, such as Doctor Nefarious Tropy and those unlocks from the previous Grand Prix that are have been locked behind challenges and events. If these same items suddenly start showing up in the Pit Stop, there are some racing fans who won’t be too happy.
We also don’t know exactly how much Activision intends to charge to Wumpa Coin bundles though we’ll hopefully find out when the Back N. Time Grand Prix goes live this Friday.
For more on Nitro-Fueled, we’ve put together a handy list of guides and features you can find below.
- Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled – a Grand Prix guide to Nitro Tour glory
- The best Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled characters for winning online
- Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled – how free DLC and microtransactions work
- Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled – how to unlock N. Tropy
- Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled Shortcut Guide
- 10 features Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled fans want added to the game
Source: Activision blog
ico
Doesn’t seem like an unreasonable way of doing micro transactions to me. I got the game shortly after it came out (to relive my ps1 days) but still not had time to get into it due to general time constraints and Mario Maker 2. Must say from what I have played so far it’s quite tough but fun.
Pitcher-T
What is unreasonable is releasing a game without them, only to include them later once the reviews are all in. It’s such shady business practice they did it with COD and are now doing it with this.
Eevryone thought the grind was strong with this game and now we know why