Killer Instinct reboot is free-to-play, only one character is free


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Killer Instinct is getting a reboot on Xbox One, courtesy of Double Helix Games . Good news: it?s free-to-play. Potential bad news: you have to pay for every character, except Jago.

Destructoid confirmed in this Killer Instinct preview, that while the fighter is free to all, you have to pay individually for new and returning characters. That?s a payment per character, but the specific cost has not been confirmed, so don?t start worrying just yet, as they could be dirt cheap.

Characters have two life bars just like in the original games, and big combos and Combo-Breakers are back. The game?s out at the Xbox One launch.

What do you make of the above? Also, why not check out some new Killer Instinct trailer and screens here?

http://www.vg247.com...racter-is-free/

Killer Instinct is a free digital-only Xbox One launch title, but you will have to pay for all the characters, which consist of both old faces and newcomers. In fact, the only character available for free is Jago, while the rest will be available for a price to be announced at a later date.

http://www.destructoid.com/killer-instinct-is-combo-tastic-and-it-s-free-to-play-255989.phtml

What in the hell is this I don't even...

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Well if there are 50 characters and they're a dollar each, you have a $50 game.

I'm still not a big fan of free to play games though. I guess for now it's Jago vs. Jago.

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So what? They could've easily have made it a $60 game. The characters might be cheap.

Not that I agree with it but it's actually an interesting way to go about it - there are very few games of that type where I don't pick the same or same couple of characters for every match, so this could end up being quite a bit cheaper for some people.

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A great announcement ruined by the selling model.

I've never really cared for KI, but games which limit you so much are a huge turn off IMO. That goes for any platform/distributor. Bad enough some XBLA/XBLIGs have timed demos. I mean really, wtf.

Age of Empires Online / Dota 2 & a select few do F2P right. Microsoft really missed an opportunity here.

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Well actually now that I think about it, it would be nice if they just sold a full retail version (all characters) for regular price and also offered the free to play version.

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I'm sad my fightstick is worthless with the next-gen consoles. I guess I will have to buy a stick with exactly the same amount of buttons later for the Xbox One, but until then I'll try avoiding next-gen fighting games. They should have done a random picked free character from the top 10 fighters to balance online matchups.

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Well actually now that I think about it, it would be nice if they just sold a full retail version (all characters) for regular price and also offered the free to play version.

That's a much better strategy for two reasons. 1 it appeases people who are familiar with the game & don't like micro-transactions, and 2 it provides a taster to those who are unfamiliar with the franchise or are on the edge of buying (although I guess you could argue that is what XBLA demos have done for the past 8 years).

Microsoft have announced F2P games in the past and then reworked them completely to become regular retail/XBLA titles. Joyride probably being the most well known one. I doubt much is set in stone yet so it's not hard to imagine they would rework it based on the reaction to this news.

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I don't really get the problem. Without knowing the pricing, how can anyone say its a restrictive setup?

It sounds like they are basically giving you a full featured demo and then you pay for the characters you want. If the pricing is reasonable, I think its fine. I agree that offering one 'starter' pack that is equivalent to a full release is a good idea as well.

So yeah, I'm not sure how this hurts those of us interested in the game. If pricing turns out to be bad, then you have more of an issue.

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I think this actually might be a brilliant model. People who are really into fighters usually stick to a small character roster anyway.

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I'm sad my fightstick is worthless with the next-gen consoles. I guess I will have to buy a stick with exactly the same amount of buttons later for the Xbox One, but until then I'll try avoiding next-gen fighting games. They should have done a random picked free character from the top 10 fighters to balance online matchups.

That's something that's always annoyed me about arcade sticks - you would think that they would all output to USB since 2005 days and be cross-platform/generation compatible. I used to have one for the PC which probably still works on Windows 8 x64 that I originally would have had on Windows 2000.

EDIT: Just checked, there are some naff ones available for PC/PS2/PS3 since 2007 - just Microsoft being obtuse about it then.

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What in the hell is this I don't even...

Freemium model made popular in recent years on mobile phones.

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  • 2 months later...

http://uk.ign.com/videos/2013/08/16/killer-instinct-chief-thunder-revealed

 

I'm torn between "wtf have they done to thunder", "I can't wait to play this", and "is this supposed to be next gen". Then I had a quick look at Tekken 6, and SF IV on youtube, and told myself to stfu, gfx wise at least.

 

I still have a little bit of "I'm going to be underwhelmed, no matter what".

Rose tinted expectations are a bitch.

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Could be interesting, I know I always just picked 1 or two characters to play..

 

Exactly. Because of this, I prefer this model. I'll want to play maybe 5 or 6. As long as you can play "against" all.

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I love what they've done to Chief Thunder. He looks awesome!

 

Plus there's also this: 

 

Javascript is not enabled or refresh the page to view.

Click here to view the Tweet

 

chief4u2o61.gif

 

If they nail this game, it's going to move some consoles. That does look awesome.

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I cant wait to see more characters revealed.  I'm hoping we see a return of Riptor.

 

So far, Saberwulf would be my favorite of the announced characters.  The team behind this seems eager to please fighting game fans, so we will see how it pans out.

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So the basic version really has just been reduced to a "demo" at best with one character. Hardly F2P and I can't imagine it's going to draw people in when they can only play as the same character. Sounds like real fun (N)

 

They should rotate a selection of fighters similar to SMNC or LoL.

 

What's the odds they'll price individual characters so highly that it'll just force people to buy the full game :rolleyes:

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So the basic version really has just been reduced to a "demo" at best with one character. Hardly F2P and I can't imagine it's going to draw people in when they can only play as the same character. Sounds like real fun (N)

 

They should rotate a selection of fighters similar to SMNC or LoL.

 

What's the odds they'll price individual characters so highly that it'll just force people to buy the full game :rolleyes:

 

Yes it's terrible how they give you a free game, and then don't let you play everythign in it, isn't it....

 

 

it's free to play, no you can't play more than one character but you can play that character for as much as you damn want, that's called free to play. 

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So the basic version really has just been reduced to a "demo" at best with one character. Hardly F2P and I can't imagine it's going to draw people in when they can only play as the same character. Sounds like real fun (N)

 

 

Well, generally I'd agree. But in this type of game, it talks a looooong time to master one character and their moves. So what you're saying does not apply. Sometimes you just have to take a hit. Killer Instinct is an exclusive that if they do it right, and it's looking awfully good, will kick some ass and move some consoles.

 

You belittle your platform of choice and your opinion by denying the undeniable. :) People have been waiting years for this, and it's kind of ###### for Microsoft to make it XBone exclusive (no 360), but I understand why.

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