At first, it seemed like LawBreakers is set to compete against Overwatch. The promise of a free-to-play model would easily edge out Blizzard’s colorful multiplayer shooter, considering that the business model has been thriving as of late. However, news as of late suggest that the title isn’t going to be free as salt anymore, although it won’t be as expensive as triple A titles.
Speaking at a Games Developers Conference panel, Gears of War creator and Boss Key Productions founder Cliff Blezsinski together with COO Arjan Brussee sheds light on why the company made the switch. “As the game continued to take shape, we realized free-to-play wasn’t the right fit for what we’re building,” Bezsinski said. “LawBreakers is a competitive game at heart and that means balance is a big priority to me, my team, and our community.
The only way for free-to-play games to thrive in the cutthroat industry of gaming is with micro-transactions. However, the setup would give an advantage to those who can dish out a couple of bucks to buy some add-ons or power-ups, and in doing so would easily render the game pay to win and unbalanced. While Dota 2 got away with its free-to-play model through cosmetics, you probably won’t enjoy getting palette swaps and costume changes on a first person shooter, right?
The game’s Art Director Tramell Isaac also pointed out that the initial business model only lead to more distractions. It’s hard to earn money in the gaming industry, and the idea of making money got in the way of making LawBreakers great. Hence, the change.
LawBreakers is also seeing some new, albeit unsurprising changes in its latest update. Taking cue from Gears of war, it’s now seeking to deliver an R-Rated experience, and it doesn’t want to be “lumped in with cartoon style” that’s seen from the competition. Here are some of the graphical changes:
LawBreakers is a “digital premium title” that will launch exclusively on Steam, and it will arrive sometime in Summer of this year.
