I'm All For A Dauntless Update, But I Seriously Dread Where The Game's Monetization Is Headed

Once upon a time I had pretty high hopes for Dauntless. I mean, a F2P monster-hunting game? How could this go wrong!? Initially, I rather enjoyed the game. Phoenix Labs, for its part, was always on top of communication, were eager to add and update the game, and things started out pretty solid. It wasn't going to be a game for everyone with it having a fair amount of repetition, but Monster Hunter proved there was an audience.

The last few years haven't really been kind to the game, or the company for that matter. It's just been a lot of ups and downs. Phoenix Labs bought itself back from Garena last year, suffered a round of layoffs shortly after that, saw the CEO and COO step down after other co-founders had already departed the company, had another round of layoffs, then had yet ANOTHER round of layoffs when the company basically canceled anything that wasn't Dauntless or Fae Farm.

In the background, it turns out that the company was purchased sometime in 2023 by a blockchain company, Forte Labs, in a purchase which Game Developer reported was to be kept secret. As it turns out, most gamers don't like the idea of their game of choice being owned by a blockchain company.

As for Dauntless itself, well, let's just say that while we've been seeing dev blogs about the future lately, the most "recent" set of patch notes for the game are from back in December 2023, and even then, the last "major" update that wasn't just tuning, gauntlets, or a seasonal event was back in late 2022.

Fast forward to the present, and the team has dropped a pretty substantial post outlining their plans for the "Awakening" revamp of Dauntless. (Is this their second or third "revamp", I don't remember anymore, but I distinctly remember "Dauntless Reforged".)

Don't get me wrong, there's a lot to like in the plans. Weapon swapping is a huge addition, the new Karkonos behemoth is great, older behemoth revamps are well past due, new weapons are always nice (although new weapon TYPES aren't coming quite yet), armor and cell updates, new quests and revamped quests, and more sound great. I'm happy to see it all and I bet many people still playing Dauntless are happy, too.

Hell, being able to equip a sub-weapon and have both your main and sub weapons gain equal experience is REALLY awesome.

However, reading the post, I come across a number of things changing in the game's monetization that have me wondering if their new blockchain ownership is heavily influencing things.

First, Dauntless is getting "Canisters." They're loot boxes. That simple. Call them whatever you want, but they're loot boxes. They will come in two types: one holding the brand new Deep Sea cosmetics and one that holds classic Arcslayer cosmetics. While the game's Hunt Pass will give you a few for free, you guessed it, you can buy them with Platinum (the cash shop currency).

Don't worry, though. The team says they've "aimed to add this feature with as much transparency and integrity as possible, offering transparent odds and making sure duplicate purchases are impossible." Sorry, you lost integrity when you decided to add loot boxes, and "as transparent as possible" doesn't make sense as a sentence. Be transparent or don't, pick one.

While prices aren't official yet, the screen shot shared by the team shows a Canister costing 300 Platinum. You can't buy Platinum in bundles less than 500 and that bundle costs you $5 USD.

OK, so maybe you're fine with cosmetic loot boxes, and having predatory practices that prey on addictive personalities doesn't bother you. You may even be ok with the manipulative price point being just off center with the available Platinum bundles so you always end up with not enough or slightly too much Platinum, making the next purchase "easier" since you have a few Platinum anyway.

Let's check out another addition in the post. Hunt Passes are now one per season and will now end at the end of each season. That's right, no more Vault or Event Hunt passes going forward. You'll be given the rewards for any you have backlogged right now (which is cool), but they won't be a thing going forward. Buy the Hunt Pass or nothing at all, and I hope you don't suffer from FOMO (fear of missing out) when the pass ends.

Still ok?

How about buying weapons with Platinum? Yep, 11 more unique weapons are coming and you can buy them in-game using a new currency called "Weapon Tokens" obtained from the Hunt Pass or Weekly Challenges...or...you guessed it...they could just be bought with Platinum.

I just can't seem to shake the feeling that the Awakening update gives me. It's a feeling of the game trying to add a few things and streamline a few things to get players back, only to try and milk them for more cash. These are just really weird decisions for a game that is likely struggling to maintain a player base as it is. The changes also heavily incentivize having the "coolest" cosmetics tied behind random drops now. They were already incentivized to place them in one of the multiple passes you could buy in the past, but at least they were guaranteed in the pass. Now...try your luck with a loot box, friend.

No release date for Awakening has been given yet, so things could change, but what do you think?