After the successful comeback on Steam in November 2023, the MMORPG Fractured Online was on the right track. However, the developers have now announced a change that has been sharply criticized by the community.
What has been announced for Fractured Online? A few hours ago, a new video was released on YouTube in which the developers from Dynamight Studios present the next Early Access update of the sandbox MMORPG.
The content package named “The Invasion” brings blood and hell demons as new races, specifically designed for fans of PvP. The corresponding continent of the demonic spawn will not be available yet, as the effort behind developing new regions is very high.
In the short term, the developers prefer to focus on polishing the existing content and expanding the endgame. Additionally, the team is introducing VIP status as well as an in-game shop, allowing buyers of the founder packages to finally benefit from their VIP advantages and acquired tokens.
You can watch the developer update for Fractured Online here:
What is the problem with the update? Although the developers emphasize that they will continue to keep their promise and will not introduce Pay2Win elements in Fractured Online, because for money in the shop, players can only purchase account-bound cosmetic items and temporal advantages for character progression.
However, they undermine this statement seconds later with a glance into the store, which shows that players can spend real money tokens for gold and gold for real money tokens. This makes it possible to buy everything that can also be bought with gold using money – including orbs that permanently increase stats and skills.
How is the community reacting? The reactions of players on Reddit and Youtube show that the developers are crossing a line that many find too far. Omegalux writes, for example: “This is a dealbreaker for me, as I have steadfastly refused to play any MMO that features P2W.”
The launch trailer of Fractured Online:
TheFawz adds: “Faster progress through money is indeed Pay2Win. It definitely sounds like you are fully relying on real-money trade support, which is clearly P2W, so I don’t understand how you could previously claim that it is not P2W.”
Disappointment is also expressed by IntrepidHermit: “I know it was foolish of me to trust them, but I really thought that with their pursuit of creating the modern version of a sandbox MMORPG, they could carve out a small corner of the market. I took the risk, and they exploited it.”
What else do I need to know about Fractured Online? The online role-playing game from Dynamight Studios has been in Early Access on Steam since September 15, 2022, but the launch was not auspicious. There were many issues and technical problems.
In January 2023, the team decided to return to closed development. In November 2023, they celebrated a fairly successful comeback, but this time without the previous publisher gamigo.
In this version, Fractured Online left a significantly better impression, which allowed the negative Steam reviews from the launch (only 27 percent positive) to rise to a balanced 56 percent today. Additionally, the player numbers were finally high enough to pay salaries and other obligations.
More information about the game can be found on our overview page for Fractured Online
