If you are one of the many fans who have enjoyed the franchise of Fire Emblem--this news is going to crush your spirit. The game is one of many who are shifting to subscription-based, which will cost you over $9.49 a month starting Wednesday, Feb. 5.
Fire Emblem Heroes used to be one of the generous free-to-play games out there in the mobile market, but after this change, they have locked many features that only subscribers can access to really enjoy the game. The paywall is so far up now that it's making gamers question if it's even worth it to play the game anymore due to the imbalance of free players will have to compete against premium players.
Subscription Features
- Cosmetic skins for already existing characters
- Bonus quests
- Statistical boosts
- Upgrades in-game that gives you an edge in competitive modes
- Quality-of-life upgrades such as -- the ability to rewind back time one turn and the very hand Auto Start feature, this allows the player to let the AI start multiple matches one after the other
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The Outrage of the Fanbase
The online community is up in arms about the news regarding the developers shift to this format. Especially in the Reddit forums where meme after meme and rant after rant are endless. Given that a lot of people are already mad about subscription-based games on mobile, but more are clamoring about spending almost $10 for a mobile game just so it can be "playable" again is absurd.
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Nintendo's Money Maker
It's no secret that Nintendo is cashing in on their games so far, and Fire Emblems Heroes is one of them. It all started when Nintendo tried it with Mario Kart Tour to have an exclusive mode for about $4.99, next came the Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp subscription for $7.99 a month, and now this. They have been gaining revenue from games like this and not shy of charging their fanbase the premium amounts for the games they think are the highest grossing.
A subscription service is not likely to gain more money for the company from users who spend an absurd amount of real-life money or "whales" as gamers call them. Instead, it's just a way to lock on more people play the game casually instead of constantly dropping money in the game from time to time. As studies suggest the keeping mid-tier players keeps more high-tier players continuing to spend more on the game.
So far, the community is still reeling from the news about the beloved title. Some, however, already expected it to be this way as they have seen Nintendo's trend from previous titles. Still, the dislike of the community, especially when it's approaching its 3rd anniversary of the game, players were expecting more of a give away then something like a subscription service to reward them of their loyalty.
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