A scandal broke out in the World of Warships community related to the monetization policy of Wargaming. Players complain about a large number of loot boxes, randomness and criticize the game for introducing gambling mechanics. Against the background of discontent, dozens of streamers announced a boycott of developers and withdrew from the affiliate program.
World of Warships
Updated (August 19): the official Wargaming comment on the situation has been added to the material.
What happened?
At the end of July, Wargaming announced the return of the battleship “Missouri”, which first appeared in the project back in 2016. Initially, it could be obtained for free during the game. This time, the developers said that everyone will be able to buy the ship for in-game currency (doubloons).
However, last week the company changed the way it received the “Missouri”. As a result, you can only buy special bundles (loot boxes) for doubloons, from which a battleship can randomly fall out. The players themselves did not know the chance of the ship falling out.
The battleship “Missouri”
It was this decision of Wargaming that caused a new wave of discontent in the World of Warships community. Players on the forums began to criticize monetization, compared it to gambling and said that it directly affects the balance.
Previously, the World of Warships community has repeatedly criticized the developers. However, this time streamers and other participants of the contributors program joined the discontent en masse.
It all started with leaving the LittleWhiteMouse program. She specialized in detailed reviews of new ships and was quite popular in the community. Later, she was joined by The Mighty Jingles video blogger and a number of other popular contributors. In total, a little more than 20 participants have left the program at the moment.
What are the streamers’ claims?
The Mighty Jingles stated in his post that it was a real honor to participate in the program in the first two years. Wargaming listened to the participants, accepted their criticism and appreciated the help in the development of World of Warships.
However, he called the current attitude of developers with streamers toxic and one-sided. Among the main reasons are aggressive monetization and the introduction of gambling mechanics into a game with an age rating of 7+. The World of Warships user agreement states that only persons over the age of 13 can play the project. However, the game itself has a PEGI rating of 7+.
So in today’s Salt Mines Discord Q&A (which will be posted in lieu of Mingles with Jingles on Monday) I announced my intention to quit the World of Warships Community Contributor Program. Once the Discord Q&A ended, I posted this message on the CC Discord and left the server. pic.twitter.com/7sHhYvALNN
— Paul Charlton (@MightyJingles) August 14, 2021
The Mighty Jingles were joined by streamer Flambass, who explained the reasons for leaving in a big letter. He praised the game itself and noted that his decision is connected with Wargaming.
Flambass also stated that the developers stopped listening to the community and now simply ignore any comments. The rest of the streamer’s claims are as follows:
- the studio only cares about money and it will “burn the game to the ground to get your wallets”;
- developers ignore those program participants who criticize their decisions and call them a “loud minority”;
- simple developers are not to blame for the problems. According to the streamer, it is the company’s management that is disconnected from reality and the community;
- he called the relationship between the studio and contributors disrespectful and “abusive”.
Popular streamer Mr. Gibbins pointed out another problem of World of Warships. According to him, the developers are exploiting real veterans, of whom there are quite a lot among hardcore fans of the game. “It is well known that the problem of gambling is much more widespread among veterans than among the rest of the population. It is simply immoral to promote the Missouri ship, which is of great importance to them, through gambling mechanics,” he said.
iChaseGaming called the developers “moral bankrupts”. He pointed out a huge problem with loot boxes and noted that players do not know the chances of ships falling out of these bundles.
The official response of the developers
Wargaming responded to users on the official World of Warships forum. The company said it regrets the departure of LittleWhiteMouse and other contributors. “We respect their decision and want to thank them for their contribution, dedication and passion for this game and program,” the message reads.
The studio commented on the players’ dissatisfaction with receiving the Missouri through loot boxes and noted that it would soon provide a new way to purchase a ship. However, Wargaming has not responded to most of the other claims.
The developers’ response caused a new wave of discontent both on the World of Warships forum and on Reddit. Users note that the studio ignored the words of the streamers about the bad attitude towards themselves. Also, the company did not say anything specific about the problems with monetization and gambling.
In the comments App2Top.ru The Wargaming company noted that it takes this situation seriously and has already adjusted plans for the sale of the Missouri and the gaming profitability of the ship. “We are aware that our players now have many other questions regarding the decisions we make. We are doing our best to answer them. We will definitely tell the community about our plans,” the statement says.