This should’ve been such an easy slam dunk for Disney and Gameloft.
A kart racer in the same vein as Mario Kart, but with iconic Nintendo characters swapped out for Disney characters?
That game should’ve printed money.
Alas, “Disney Speedstorm” opted to go the free-to-play route and that has opened up a can of worms that could very well lead to a class action lawsuit from disgruntled fans.
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First, the upside of a game being free to play: Obviously, with no barrier of entry apart from technology (and “Speedstorm” is available on just about every modern console imaginable, including iOS) you are greatly expanding your player base.
Having that robust base is critical for any free-to-play game, because “free” games predominantly make money via microtransactions — something that “Speedstorm” is riddled with.
(As a lapsed Disney fan and big Mario Kart fan, this writer gave the game a whirl and is speaking from experience.)
Do you enjoy any free-to-play games?
So you can purchase “Speedstorm” for nothing, but if you want that really cool-looking Mickey Mouse costume, or you want to upgrade your favorite racer, or even unlock certain characters, ponying up real-world money will be your fastest option.
But, to its minimal credit, “Speedstorm” launched with just about everything in the game being unlockable simply by playing it a ton.
That’s where the game’s “battle pass” comes in, which is the root of this potential lawsuit.
When “Speedstorm” first launched, you could purchase a battle pass (a common thing in free-to-play games that reward a player for logging in daily, playing the game and accomplishing certain tasks) with “tokens,” an obtainable currency in the game.
Yes, it was a grind and a time sink to unlock everything — characters, costumes, upgrades, etc. — in the battle pass, especially compared to just purchasing the unlocks directly, but it was doable, and “Speedstorm” fans appreciated that gesture.
That appreciation evaporated when Gameloft, the publishers of the game, and Disney put out a big update on April 8, noting some changes coming to the premium “golden” battle pass.
In short, on April 17, in conjunction with a new season (another hallmark of free-to-play games) of the game, the premium battle pass will no longer be obtainable via solely playing the game.
Instead, the battle pass will only be obtainable by plopping down a real-world $9.99 — no tokens allowed.
And giving this update a whole extra stench of greed? There would now be two battle passes per season… so if you want to get everything in a given season of “Speedstorm,” it’ll be a roughly $20 investment per season.
Just three seasons of purchasing those and you’re already looking at the cost of a full-fledged AAA video game, with more seasons looming over the horizon.
Livid fans took to both social media and Reddit (while your mileage may vary on Reddit, it’s inarguable that a ton of people still use it) to blast the sort of moves that would make Scrooge McDuck blush.
The most notable pushback came on a Reddit forum that pondered whether Gameloft and Disney had opened themselves up to a lawsuit due to the language found in the game regarding tokens.
“For anyone who spent money on purchasing tokens, I believe we have a class action lawsuit on our hands if Gameloft proceeds with the planned changes to the Golden Passes,” the post began.
The post also claimed: “Breaking their own terms of service is opening up themselves to a class action lawsuit.”
Indeed, if you glance at any of the pages where one can purchase tokens in “Speedstorm,” such as on the PlayStation Store, it clearly and explicitly states under the “Game and Legal Info” tab that you can use tokens to purchase the aforementioned battle pass, as you can see below (emphasis added):
“Tokens are an in-game currency that can be earned for free by achieving goals in the game or by being purchased using real-world money. They are not season-based and can be accumulated. They can also be used to obtain items in the shop, buy the Golden Pass, skip Golden Pass tiers, and much more.”
(And as for this author’s personal recommendation after spending some time with “Speedstorm,” you will honestly be better off investing in Mario Kart on a Nintendo system, especially with these new token changes. Though, that being said, given that the game is free, if you’re at all interested in trying it out, there are far worse time sinks on the free-to-play market.)
