Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth New Game+ controversy

[lycanwarrior]

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is making the utterly bizarre decision to lock New Game+ behind a $15 upgrade:​

https://www.pcgamer.com/like-a-drag...n-to-lock-new-game-behind-a-dollar15-upgrade/

When it comes to trying to experience everything a sprawling hundred-hour RPG has to offer, New Game+ can often be an essential tool for running through a game a second or third time without causing too much psychological damage. Some games, like the Persona series, even require a NG+ run if you want the full completionist adventure.

It makes it all the more baffling, then, that Sega's upcoming Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth is locking its New Game+ mode behind its Deluxe and Ultimate editions, which cost an extra $15 and $40 on top of the base game respectively. This is a series which, traditionally, has had its own features locked behind a NG+ run such as the legendary difficulty mode.

Specifically, NG+ is being folded into the 'Master Vacation Bundle' which isn't included with the game's base version. According to the game's official website the bundle also includes a bonus dungeon, special sujimon (from a Pokémon-like mode), resort guests, outfits "and more."

Frustratingly, none of these specifics are included on the game's Steam page. It lists out each edition and what bundles you get for them, but fails to detail what's included in each one. That means if you're just going by the Steam page it's perfectly reasonable to assume that a series which has traditionally included NG+ for no extra price would, in fact, have it in its standard edition.



(Image credit: Sega)

It feels a little rancid to me to have such a basic feature require at least a $15 upgrade in order to have. Sure, you get a couple of other goodies for the pleasure, but they're considerably more optional in nature.

Of course, there's still the chance that this is some rather confusing wording on Sega's part. But considering one eagle-eyed Redditor noticed the situation about a month back and got in touch to be told that yep, this is legit, I'm not too confident. Regardless, I've asked Sega for clarification about the situation, and I'll update this article if I hear anything back.

 

[karoliner]

What a weird thing to do. One of best franchises Sega has, with a reputation and fanbase built over almost 20 years of good games and you want to fuck everything up being turbo greedy.

 

[Falksi]

Fucking stupid twats.

 

[cruel]

This, plus two classes locked behind a preorder bonus. I liked the previous one, but behaviors like this just motivate you to ignore the game.

Sent from my KB2005 using Tapatalk

 

[Grampy_Bone]

What happened to Sega I thought they were cool.

Oh wait, the origin of Sega aka Service Games was gambling machines for soldiers, a shady business run by.... Yakuza.

 

[Terra]

Didn't they already do this (or try to) for Yakuza 7 in Japan several years ago? I noticed the escalating price of the Yakuza (and various Atlus titles under Sega's umbrella) series in recent years alongside this sort of bs and it's why I now switched to just waiting on 75% off sales for series.

 

[Häyhä]

I never play New Game+ with Yakuza games since they're such time sinks to finish even once, but this move is incomprehensible on every level. Then again this IS Sega we're talking about here so irrational out-of-the-blue retard moments are to be expected periodically.

 

[Modron]

What happened to Sega I thought they were cool.

Covid hit them hard, pachinko was 85% of their yearly revenue and basically financed the video gaming. They had to sell off their arcade center franchise. Plus they've already done this monetization scheme with other entries in japan but just sold the games in the west as complete packages.

 

[Zeriel]

What a weird thing to do. One of best franchises Sega has, with a reputation and fanbase built over almost 20 years of good games and you want to fuck everything up being turbo greedy.

This is how suits often think. "Well, it's super popular... why not cash in?!"

Exchanging decades of good rep and built-up customer loyalty for a one-time payoff is actually a super common strategy when new execs are hired in other industries. Sometimes it's the entire reason a company is acquired/sold off in the first place, the buyers are paying for the privilege of driving the company's rep into the ground in order to increase profits. Otherwise they wouldn't acquire it.

 

[Damned Registrations]

What a weird thing to do. One of best franchises Sega has, with a reputation and fanbase built over almost 20 years of good games and you want to fuck everything up being turbo greedy.

This is how suits often think. "Well, it's super popular... why not cash in?!"

Exchanging decades of good rep and built-up customer loyalty for a one-time payoff is actually a super common strategy when new execs are hired in other industries. Sometimes it's the entire reason a company is acquired/sold off in the first place, the buyers are paying for the privilege of driving the company's rep into the ground in order to increase profits. Otherwise they wouldn't acquire it.

It boggles my mind that this is done. I guess it comes down to the company changing hands from a long term investor to a short term one, who intends to sell it off with the big profit spike and the move on to the next company to flip. It's like house flipping in reverse though; instead of adding value to each property and making money that way, you're stripping things of value like a fucking locust. But the part that makes no sense to me is... who are all these massive fucking retards taking the company off the hands of these locusts immediately after they've punted the rep into the sewer? Because if they had to hold onto the company while it is driven into the ground and goes bankrupt, there'd be no profit to be had to begin with.

 

[Zeriel]

What a weird thing to do. One of best franchises Sega has, with a reputation and fanbase built over almost 20 years of good games and you want to fuck everything up being turbo greedy.

This is how suits often think. "Well, it's super popular... why not cash in?!"

Exchanging decades of good rep and built-up customer loyalty for a one-time payoff is actually a super common strategy when new execs are hired in other industries. Sometimes it's the entire reason a company is acquired/sold off in the first place, the buyers are paying for the privilege of driving the company's rep into the ground in order to increase profits. Otherwise they wouldn't acquire it.

It boggles my mind that this is done. I guess it comes down to the company changing hands from a long term investor to a short term one, who intends to sell it off with the big profit spike and the move on to the next company to flip. It's like house flipping in reverse though; instead of adding value to each property and making money that way, you're stripping things of value like a fucking locust. But the part that makes no sense to me is... who are all these massive fucking retards taking the company off the hands of these locusts immediately after they've punted the rep into the sewer? Because if they had to hold onto the company while it is driven into the ground and goes bankrupt, there'd be no profit to be had to begin with.

Same people who buy stocks when they're up, and not when they're down? Turns out the average person, no matter their degrees or professional prestige, is not very good at exactly gauging something's true worth, let alone predicting what it's worth will be in a few years time.

So a company is acquired, squeezed for profits... a prospective buyer sees, "Oh! The profits are up 10%, that will probably continue, this is a safe bet." And not all of this is pump and dump, if a company goes public, the CEO is paid based on profits and shareholder returns, not the long-term stability of the business. Short-term gain is literally their job, and it's also illegal to not do this, if you don't reward short-term "fiduciary responsibility", you'll be fired.

I've said this in other threads, but I think the best thing we could do to stop this parasitism is to get rid of the laws that incentivize (actually, require) the behavior.

 

[Clockwork Knight]

This, plus two classes locked behind a preorder bonus.

It's called "Infinite Wealth" for a reason.

 

[Modron]

This, plus two classes locked behind a preorder bonus. I liked the previous one, but behaviors like this just motivate you to ignore the game.

Last Yakuza: Like a Dragon had two classes as dlc, you guys didn't raise a big enough stink back then.

 

[REhorror]

But why?

SEGA and japanese companies making constant business mistakes right now, wtf?

 

[flyingjohn]

This was the case for the Japanese version of the first game. Western fans are now finally being treated as equals.

 

[Damned Registrations]

Short-term gain is literally their job, and it's also illegal to not do this, if you don't reward short-term "fiduciary responsibility", you'll be fired.

Is it short term though? IIRC that shit is incredibly vague. Wasn't there some case where Henry Ford gave his workers significant raises and someone tried to bite him with this and he was like 'LOL, paying workers is good for business in the long run' and nothing came of it?

Always seemed more like an excuse to be an asshole to me, same way nintendo gets away with being giant pricks to their own fans under the pretense of 'protecting their trademarks' or whatever even though other companies are totally fine with fangames and such, even for things as iconic as Sonic.

 

[Zeriel]

Short-term gain is literally their job, and it's also illegal to not do this, if you don't reward short-term "fiduciary responsibility", you'll be fired.

Is it short term though? IIRC that shit is incredibly vague. Wasn't there some case where Henry Ford gave his workers significant raises and someone tried to bite him with this and he was like 'LOL, paying workers is good for business in the long run' and nothing came of it?

Always seemed more like an excuse to be an asshole to me, same way nintendo gets away with being giant pricks to their own fans under the pretense of 'protecting their trademarks' or whatever even though other companies are totally fine with fangames and such, even for things as iconic as Sonic.

Those laws are relatively recent (70s or 80s I believe, but it could have been even more recent than that). They weren't around in Henry Ford's day. They also kicked in with the decline of labor power and unions in general.

 

[KeAShizuku]

LMAO they've been milking Japanese fans like that for ages.
You'd think people would appreciate that Westerners are now treated equally. Enjoy your globalism.

 

[bionicman]

Of course, there's still the chance that this is some rather confusing wording on Sega's part. But considering one eagle-eyed Redditor noticed the situation about a month back and got in touch to be told that yep, this is legit, I'm not too confident.

Spoiler

 

[Grampy_Bone]

Otaku have brand loyalty to a fault though. There's this attitude "if you're a XYZ fan you MUST buy everything they sell without argument."

That shit don't fly around here. At least it shouldn't.

 

[Rean]

Otaku have brand loyalty to a fault though. There's this attitude "if you're a XYZ fan you MUST buy everything they sell without argument."

That shit don't fly around here. At least it shouldn't.

Otaku have less brand loyalty than Call of Doody fans. But I don't think the Yakuza franchise qualifies as otaku-bait anyway.

 

[Zero CHAR]

Good, it's good to take as much money as you can from the goyim cattle.

 

[Cologno]

This, plus two classes locked behind a preorder bonus. I liked the previous one, but behaviors like this just motivate you to ignore the game.

Last Yakuza: Like a Dragon had two classes as dlc, you guys didn't raise a big enough stink back then.

Eh, they weren't very good and could neglected, though. Saeko and one other girl were nice to look at, but meh otherwise.

 

[KeAShizuku]

Otaku have brand loyalty to a fault though. There's this attitude "if you're a XYZ fan you MUST buy everything they sell without argument."

That shit don't fly around here. At least it shouldn't.

Westerners spend money on micro transactions too.

 

[Ivan]

sucks but also, I don't wanna replay a 100+ hr game