Controversial Microtransactions Removed From Godus Wars

Peter Molyneux is one of the mistrusted game developers throughout history and it’s not unwarranted given the hugely disappointing releases during the last decade. Molyneux has forged a terrible reputation for promising so much and failing to deliver! For example, Fable 3 was a pretty hollow experience and didn’t have a lasting appeal. However, this isn’t reason enough to explain why many people perceive Molyneux as an unreliable figure. This animosity mostly stems from the release of Godus, a god game made possible through crowdfunding. Prior to the release, many Kickstarter pre-order promises were broken and the game is filled with microtransactions. Rather shockingly, the business model is akin to a freemium mobile title, and wasn’t altered from the iOS version.

Recently, the publisher launched a RTS based around the Godus world. Despite creating such a huge backlash from the original game, Molyneux didn’t reward the initial player base and decided to charge for extra content. This rightfully resulted in terrible user reviews and many people voiced their displeasure on the Steam forums. In response to the frustration from players, 22can’s CEO, Simon Phillips released a statement on Steam which reads:

“Hi Godus Wars Community!

Firstly welcome to our new Godus players and hello to our existing users. As you noticed, yesterday we (finally) released Godus Wars. By now, all of you that purchased the original Godus and our Kickstarter backers should have Godus Wars in your Steam Library. We’re aware that it took a few hours to propagate to some of you and if you think you should have it and still don’t then do get in touch.

We’ll be making some changes to the game and also the steam page to reflect the feedback that’s coming in and we’ll do a round up of that very soon.

In the mean time, its been brought to our attention that the extra content being a premium add on really isn’t a popular choice. 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.

Simon Phillips, 22cans CEO.

PS: Thanks for everyone posting their Godus Wars feedback in our discussion boards. The Godus Wars team really appreciate the detailed feedback we have received.”

Despite the change of heart, consumers are still very suspicious and extremely angry with the game’s development. One user proclaimed:

“Ok, but why was this EVER considered in the first place? You know damn well that people were extremely dissatisfied with Godus. To think you would have the audacity to try and charge Godus owners for the extra content is just absurd. On top of that, we were promised no microtransactions – unlocking new areas with real money is a microtransactions. Our faith in you as a company is already pretty much gone, don’t start lying to us too.”

Molyneux and his studio didn’t learn anything from the Godus furore and had the gall to charge loyal players with a series of micropayments. Frankly, the damage has been done, and I can’t see this latest endeavour making any difference.