Activision just announced a new Grand Prix event is coming to Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled. While that is all well and good, the publisher managed to sneak another, more controversial announcement in. Microtransactions are officially coming to the kart racer “in early August.”
As Crash Team Racing players already know, Wumpa Coins can be used to buy items such as skins and new racers in the Pit Stop. While these are earned naturally throughout gameplay, soon players will have the option to purchase Wumpa Coins outright, if they so choose. This will allow racers to “fast-track their Wumpa Coin collection.”
We currently don’t have an idea of what these purchases will look like. Things like how many Wumpa Coins will be in a bundle, or their price, have not yet been disclosed. Hopefully we’ll get more clarification before they become available. We probably won’t, though.
As in-game microtransactions are already a controversial topic, adding them post-launch to a game that didn’t have them before is likely going to ruffle a few feathers, at least. The announcement stresses these “won’t change the game’s core mechanics,” though that probably won’t quell the uneasiness.
Coinciding with the change (and Grand Prix) are new items in the Pit Stop. Skins like Mad Scientist Crash, Sabertooth Pura, and Stone Age N. Tropy were all teased, and can all be bought with Wumpa Coins. Wumpa Coins that you can soon buy with real-life money.
Considering that there isn’t much in the way of post-launch DLC for Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled, save for the Grand Prix events (which are available for all players), perhaps this isn’t all too surprising. We’ll see if these become a fixture in Crash Team Racing, or if Beenox will pull a Monolith and remove them after massive outcry.
Are you a fan of these post-launch microtransactions? Probably not, but be sure to let us know!
[Source: Activision]
