The new PC title Moonbreakers is a turn-based strategy/table-top simulation game. It was celebrated by some at gamescom. It launched in Early Access on Steam on September 30 – but player numbers are grim. Now the team decides to take a drastic step: they are removing the in-game shop from the game.
What kind of game is Moonbreakers? The idea behind Moonbreakers: You treat the game figures like miniatures in table-top games, like physical collectibles that you can buy, paint, and move around the table, similar to Warhammer.
Superman Henry Cavill is crazy about exactly such miniatures. The actor spends hours painting them – some people do this, spending a lot of money on the figures.
In Moonbreakers, you can also paint the figures. Assembling a squad is the focus of the game. Moonbreakers comes from the creators of „Subnautica“, a popular survival game.
How was the game received at gamescom? In an initial trailer, it looked like a labor of love from a good studio that takes new directions. Not a “typical off-the-shelf game” where you already know what to expect from the trailer.
The website “digitaltrends.com” even made it their main game of the gaming fair. It said it was a “surprise title that totally stole the spotlight.”
The strategy part of the game feels great – and especially painting the figures is fantastic.
MeinMMO hinted back in August: Hardly anyone will play this
Were there any negative voices? The grumpy site MeinMMO wrote back then after the opening night of gamescom (August 24): Moonbreakers looks “almost dead” before its launch and first gameplay reports – it feels like a mix of “Battleborn and Atlas Reactor.” Those are two of the worst PC flops of the last 10 years.
Even then, we pointed out that the trailer generated few views and likes, and many were already saying: It is unclear who is supposed to play this.
Moonbreakers launches in Early Access on Steam
How is it going on Steam now? Moonbreakers quietly launched in Early Access on Steam on September 29. The game has good reviews at 81%.
People praise mainly the graphics and gameplay ideas, stating that the mechanics are solid and easy to understand: Think X-Com, but with quirky robots and crazy alien plants.
However, even the positive reviews note: The game feels like it wants to squeeze money from buyers who are getting the game on Steam for €30 with additional microtransactions. This is not the case in the game, but it seems discouraging when you just take a quick look at it.
Apparently, many are already feeling uneasy about the “in-game shop” and “buyable characters”; and this is exactly the problem that Evolve failed at many years ago.
Is the game doing well? No, not at all. The player numbers on Steam are really bad. According to the site “Steamcharts,” very few people have bought it, and almost no one is playing it anymore:
- The peak value was only 547 concurrent players
- Currently, the player count has dropped to 70 (highest value in the last 24 hours)
This is practically nothing for a game from an established studio.
Moonbreakers disables the in-game shop after a month
What is the studio doing now? They have apparently recognized that microtransactions are off-putting. The studio changed the unlocking of units in an initial patch on October 27 so that all units are unlocked when you purchase the base game (via steam).
The in-game shop will be completely eliminated.
It is said that they are now in Early Access and it is important to develop the game together with the community.
Unlocking characters in purchase titles is apparently an absolute no for many
What’s behind it: These are already radical and strong measures that the studio is taking here. And the game is also in Early Access and wants to experiment.
But Moonbreakers will apparently always have a hard time winning players due to its quirky concept. Because while many say they want innovative ideas, they prefer to buy Call of Duty or WoW instead of engaging with something new.
Additionally, the “unlocking of characters for money” in a purchase title is really something that many see as “just not acceptable.” This was seen with Evolve and recently with Overwatch 2 from Blizzard. No matter how fair the model might be, it is simply not accepted by players – even though it is standard in LoL.
I say: gamescom 2022 already has a big winner – and one game is almost dead
