SoulCalibur: Lost Swords PS3 going pay to win says Namco dev

This is a snippet from a larger interview with SoulCalibur: Lost Swords producer Masaaki Hoshino. The game is a free-to-play title on the PS3.

Why was it decided that Lost Swords would be singleplayer only?

The reason that we went singleplayer…well, originally, we were thinking about having a multiplayer option, but because we’re going with a pay-to-win model, we were worried that by having online multiplayer, for all the new users that would be coming in experiencing the game for the first time, they might be immediately deterred by fighting against opponents who had superior equipment and gear—and we didn’t want to have that kind of negative impact on new players.

In the singleplayer experience, having a pay-to-win structure won’t impede the player’s experience with the game.

Read more at http://www.siliconera.com/2014/05/19...g1QBMl3omym.99

First time I ever saw a developer actually say something like that in such a straightforward fashion lol.

I don't like Pay-2-Win at all. They should have just copied the Killer Instinct model I think.

I may like Soul, but screw this. I'll wait for SC VI... if they'll still bother.

I hope no one buys the game....

What the heck? No multiplayer? I thought this was a fighting game series. They are literally letting their commercial model undermine the game design. Rubbish!

The game is free..

lol

Eh...then no one plays it. And if you have to pay to win....it's not free.

I like his honesty. Sure as hell beats listening to a developer spin his way out.

You don't have to pay anything. It's free.

Paying just makes the game easier.

No multiplayer? Why is this called Soul Calibur?

@LJS9502_basic: lol

Well... At least they are honest. lol.

good thing Mortal Kombat is the only fighting game I like.

oo having little trouble fighting with that wooden stick NO PROBLEM $6.99 can get you a better one!

This clearly shows that japanese developers are so detached from reality that they don´t even know the conotations of saying your game is pay to win have.

Either that or they´re just incompetent.

At least he's honest

As a HUGE SoulCalibur fan it saddens me to say this game is complete garbage. I downloaded it twice and it's a complete piece of turd. It baffles me to think they actually expect people to spend money on this garbage. It rarely works, load times are beyond terrible and and they charge for almost anything worthwhile. SC fans are much better off playing SCV and waiting for SCVI to come out. What a complete disgrace of a game, it doesn't have a 26% average on metacritic for nothing.

Trash attitude.

Hard to be excited about a sixth entry.

some devs are actually admitting their game is p2w? rofl

I blame lemmings for this travesty. Don't have any reason to, but we need to blame someone. :P

He's being honest, I'll give him that.

pay to win in a single player game?

well. that's quite interesting.

why the hell not? if someone wants to be super casual with a pork sword, let them pay for the privilege to use one in the game.

Honesty is a good thing. I don't know why people are giving him **** for it. I wish all developers were this straight forward.

Also, why would he need to be secretive about the game being pay to win? Pay to win still exists everywhere, even in multiplayer games. Planetside 2 and Tribes Ascend, a couple of the leading PC FPS F2P games, allow you to pay money to more quickly level up and get more diverse gear sets, essentially allowing you to be a better player by paying money.

I won't be buying this game.

Haha! I get it, i see what you did there. F2P game. Wont buy it. Ha! Brilliant!

Coming up next Online only 4 player co-op game that can be played with single person........................wait a second.

+1 for honesty. we all know F2P 99% of the time = Pay to win crap game. but at least he isn't trying to convince us its not

@KHAndAnime: More like not mentioning than being secretive.

Perhaps because it makes more profit in the long run, if it was a F2P and P2W.

Game sucks anyway. I always lose connection with their servers then get booted out of psn.

If I restart my ps3, I can sign back into psn, but Lost Swords just has to much b.s. to come with it that makes it not worth it.

Nobody should buy this game. It's like they are TRYING not to make you buy it hahahaha

A game has never been so unapologetically realistic.

I take it that either Mr. Hoshino has not been burdened with an overabundance of intelligence, or he simply acknowledges that the game he is making is a piece of garbage cash-in and he doesn't expect that anyone smart enough to research the game is a potential customer anyway.

This game is a slap in the face to fans of the series, and I don't understand who Namco thinks they are making it for. The fighting game community won't touch this with a 10 foot pole, and people who just want a single player Soul Calibur experience will feel ripped off because the game is self-declared as letting you win if you give it lots of money.

This is just plain awful. If I want a fighting game I will buy one, and steer clear of this cancerous "free to play" crap. I see no reason to play this game other than to rid myself of some excess IQ points.

Glad to know I can safely ignore this game as I like SoulCalibur. Thanks guy for being open with me that your game will be ass.

At least he is forward about it being pay to win, rather than trying to use the usual BS free to play excuse.