Longtime players of the mil-sim FPS "Squad" were caught off guard when developer Offworld Industries announced yesterday (open in new tab) that the game, which once promised not to sell paid DLC, will actually start selling paid DLC in its next update Offworld will start small with two packs of paid emotes and one set of free emotes that all players will automatically receive.

"Emotes are animations that can be used to express yourself, interact with each other, celebrate in-game situations, or brighten up a down time...We hope they will enhance the social and cinematic aspects of the Squad experience.

Offworld states that the first batch of emotes is the beginning of new support for Squad and that they are "excited to try it out," but for some players, Squad's move into microtransactions feels like a betrayal. one-time Squad We have praised Offworld's determination to keep Squad a one-time purchase many times on this site, but the times they are a-changin'.

"I pulled $60 out of this game if it was going to be a cash grab," commented FDM_01 (opens in new tab) in his current top post on Squad's official subreddit. 'I'm going to retire it right next to BF2.'

To its credit, Offworld has directly addressed the unexpected change in policy in its communication and, contrary to old promises, has clearly stated that Squad needs a new source of income to remain healthy.

"We understand that paid content in games can be controversial and that the previous leadership of Offworld made it clear that they would never add paid DLC to Squad. Therefore, we would like to inform you of this change prior to the early release of v4.2.

"As we look to the future, we believe Squad will live a long and healthy life. It has a large and dedicated player base. We have plans to update and support the game well beyond 2023. While many of the planned updates will be free, we also recognize that we need a way to continue to fund Squad's development, and paid content such as Emotes is one way to help fund such development and continue the work of improving the game.

Squad's subreddit is abuzz with reactions to the Emotes announcement. Some are rightfully angry, as seen in a top-up poll post by user Sullixio (opens in new tab): "Don't buy the emote." Others accept the reasons for the off-world policy change.

"I like playing Squad and the developers need the money," writes 92nose (open in new tab).

"I buy emotes because I want to support the developers. We're a small studio and we've been releasing free updates with great new content for years. We deserve to earn money for that effort, and it's not unethical to add purchases that are purely cosmetic and have no impact on gameplay," added jmac1066 (opens in new tab).

Some players are not unhappy with the introduction of microtransactions, but with the potential slippery slope that microtransactions represent. Sure, it's all emotes now, but when will Squad's clean, realistic military aesthetic be repainted with flashy soldier skins (opens in new tab), Santa hats, and crossovers with immersion-shattering media?

"Don't forget the LED spinner on wheels and the neon purple tracer for the M2; 50 chevrons for only $4.99, a great deal for first-time buyers," comments Which-Forever-1873 (opens in new tab).

While there is no immediate indication that Offworld wants or plans a full version of "Fortnite," one cannot help but share this particular irony. While the military FPS called "Rainbow Six Siege" once had a unified style of tacticool, anti-terrorist operator, it has been replaced by the grotesque "Rick and Morty" (opens in a new tab), "Nier Automata," and most recently, "WWE's I watched firsthand as they descended into lame hell with crossover skins. I wish I had sounded the alarm years ago when Ubisoft gave one operator a goofy pizza helmet.

It is true that since its Early Access release in 2015, Squad has stood out as a well supported FPS with zero microtransactions. Last year alone, free updates added new factions, weapons, maps, and amphibious vehicles (open in new tab). The only major price increase occurred when the game was released from early access in 2020, going from $40 to $50. Milsim is an inherently niche genre, and the number of new people looking to purchase the game is limited; in an environment where bundling a $30-$70 skin on top of a $10 battle pass and selling it as a bundle is becoming the norm, the fact that a moderately popular FPS like Squad has held up so well for so long is It is impressive that it has held up so well.

That said, there is one comment in Offworld's emote Q&A that makes me hesitate:

"Will they start charging for maps and factions in the future?

Our approach to the future of Squad is to remain as inclusive as possible. Maps and factions take a lot of time and effort to create, and we hope the entire community will reap the benefits of our efforts."

That's not exactly a "no."