Dragon's Dogma 2 Microtransactions Controversy

Overview

Dragon's Dogma 2 Microtransactions Controversy refers to a controversy surrounding the addition of 21 paid DLCs to the 2024 single-player video game Dragon's Dogma 2. The discovery, spreading around the day of the game's release in late March 2024, was followed by viral discussions on social media and review-bombing of the game on Steam.

Background

On March 22nd, 2024, the single-player role-playing video game Dragon's Dogma 2 was released by CAPCOM. On Steam, the game was released along with 21 micro DLCs, including 19 items that can be obtained in the game through normal progress (image shown below).

On March 21st, X^[1] / Twitter user @AnnieSFW posted a screenshot of a negative review for the game complaining about the $1.99 DLC for changing the character's appearance (also available in-game by purchasing an item from merchants). The post (shown below, left) received over 5,600 reposts and 56,000 likes in one day.

Later that day, X^[2] user @Rimmy_Downunder posted another post about the Dragon's Dogma 2 microtransactions that received over 7,200 reposts and 53,000 likes in one day (shown below, right).

On Steam, Dragon's Dogma 2 was review-bombed, with its rating briefly dipping to Mostly Negative as of March 22nd, 2024.^[3]

Online Reactions

The posts were followed by viral discussions about the presence of paid DLCs in the game. On March 22nd, 2024, X^[4] user @SynthPotato made a post comparing Baldur's Gate 3 and Dragon's Dogma 2 that received over 1,100 reposts and 8,800 likes in one day (shown below, left).

Later that day, X^[5] user @mpr_reviews posted a screenshot of a negative Steam review that garnered over 840 reposts and 7,900 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Later on March 22nd, 2024, X^[6] user @Jeff_like_Feff made a post clarifying which DLCs are obtainable in-game (shown below).

Search Interest

External References