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JoJo's Bizarre Adventure may drop microtransactions in the West
Developer CyberConnect2 has been forced to reconsider its international release of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle after Japanese fans expressed dismay at their version's microtransaction scheme. Similar to many free to play mobile titles, the Campaign mode in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle equips players with a stock of 10 batteries. These batteries are exhausted each time you enter a fight. They will replenish over time, or players can opt to purchase DLC items for real cash to instantly rejuvenate their battery supply. Player reactions to this plan have been largely negative, even after the developer reduced the time necessary to refill a single battery by 75 percent. As a result of this backlash, the international version of JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle is being reworked, with "lots of adjustments and improvements" promised by producer Noriaki Niino. Neither CyberConnect2 nor Namco Bandai has officially stated that the microtransaction scheme will be stripped from the game, but as Siliconera points out, the developers are currently rethinking this section of the game and are hoping to reward players who supported the original microtransaction scheme, "perhaps by offering something that might have been a paid item for free." JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle is currently scheduled for release in North America and Europe at some point in 2014.
Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle coming to NA, EU in 2014
Hyper-stylized, multi-generational 3D manga fighter Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle will bring equestrian combat and psychically-summoned spirits to North America and Europe sometime in 2014, Namco Bandai announced at its pre-TGS showcase earlier this week. The PlayStation 3-exclusive fighter was released in Japan near the end of last month and has "reached 500,000 sales," according to producer Noriaki Niino (left). When it does finally launch in western territories, the localized version of All Star Battle will be on par with the Japanese version's character balance: "We are still making character adjustments – even in the Japanese version – based on the feedback that we're getting from fans," CyberConnect2 president and CEO Hiroshi Matsuyama (right) told us, when asked about the potential for future balance updates. "All of that feedback will be implemented in the overseas [version]."
