Early Access battle royale game Darwin Project is changing its distribution model to Free-to-play from being a paid title since initial release. The game seeks to stand out from the battle royale crowd by maintaining closer mechanical ties to the survival genre from which these games spawned, as well as playing up the game-show angle by introducing the Show Director role. Compared to other, competing titles, Darwin Project has struggled to maintain a growing player base.
Discussion about whether or not Darwin Project should o free-to-play arose not only among the developers, but among the existing players themselves. For some time now, consistent feedback has been given about the difficulty of finding full lobbies, as well as long queueing times before being loaded into a lobby at all. Many of the players, who paid the game’s $15 Early Access price, advocated a shift to F2P in order to boost the game’s population.
Scavengers Studio took the leap, and will be compensating existing players who paid for the game with a pack of in-game items worth roughly around $30. The rewards package, called the Founder’s Pack, includes two sets of legendary outfits exclusive to the pack, as well as two axes and two bows. Alongside these items which are only available in the pack, all jumpsuit sets will be unlocked, and players will receive 5 fan gifts, which are Darwin Project’s equivalent of lootboxes.
Some opposition to the change of distribution has arisen, with some players demanding refunds, not considering the Founder’s Pack to be sufficient compensation. Changes like this, however, are part of the deal when it comes to Early Access titles, and a number of other games in similar situations provide significantly less for early adopters. Additionally, Scavengers Studio clarified that this does not mean Darwin Project will go down a pay-to-win path.
