After releasing into Early Access yesterday, Godus Wars players quickly discovered that the game which was supposedly “free for all previous Godus Kickstarter backers and owners” charged a premium $5 in order to play past its first continent. This upset many players and thus developer 22 Cans has axed the charge.
Fraser had a bash of what’s on offer so far, which you can read about in his Godus Wars Early Access review.
It took less than 24 hours for Godus Wars to upset its players, many of which still hold ill-feelings towards developers 22 Cans as a result of their other as yet unfinished god-game Godus.
While the former game’s Steam page does state that its first continent level is included but that its second is a “premium add-on”, a large number of players found this to be a cynical money grabbing swipe at the game’s community. A quick gloss over its Steam customer reviews paints quite a picture as to how some players feel. The Guildford-based studio has since removed the paywall.
In a statement, 22 Cans CEO Simon Phillips addressed players’ response to the game’s microtransactions.
“It’s been brought to our attention that the extra content being a premium add-on really isn’t a popular choice,” he says. “Whilst we think that it does represent good value, especially considering that Godus Wars has been delivered as a free update to hundreds of thousands of users and the lower purchase price of the main game, we understand previous Godus owners frustrations with this.
“Therefore, based on your feedback, the extra content will be available to all free-of-charge. Apologies for the frustrations and we hope you enjoy playing.”
At the time of writing, of the 108 reviews posted on the Godus Wars Steam page, 83 are negative. This is but another slip in what’s been a long line of slip ups for beleaguered studio 22 Cans. At this stage it seems pretty grim, but can they ever hope to mend their battered reputation?