Just a day after Season of the Wish launched, Bungie removed the $15 “starter pack” microtransaction for Destiny 2, which quickly became the subject of criticism and backlash due to pay-to-win issues.
For years, Bungie’s monetization model for their long-running live-action shooter has increasingly relied on DLC and numerous microtransaction channels to support their game, but when players noticed a new “starter pack” added to the store yesterday, many expressed concern that the company had gone too far.
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How does this microtransaction differ from the many paid offerings of years past? Well, importantly, it contains powerful weapons and in-game items that can take hours of play to properly earn, and while Destiny has flirted with pay-to-win elements before, this is the first time they’ve very clearly disappeared beyond the cosmetics and mechanics that save time, pay to win.
Among the voices of concern was popular content creator Destiny Datto, who reserved a portion of her recent YouTube video for inclusion in the microtransaction offer, asking, “How much dumber can you get?”
One way players expressed their disdain for this pay-to-win package was by visiting the Steam storefront with online reviews and tagging the product with user tags including “Capitalism,” “Crime,” and “Psychological Horror.” The listing has since been removed.
![Removed listing for controversial microtransaction offer.](https://assets-prd.ignimgs.com/2023/11/30/image0-1701302867656.jpg?width=1280&fit=bounds&height=720&quality=20&dpr=0.05)
The dispute comes at a troubling time for Bungie, following an underwhelming expansion earlier this year and poor player engagement leading up to the finale of the Destiny saga. So much so, in fact, that Bungie reported lower-than-expected revenue while laying off 8% of its staff last month.
As concerns grew louder in the day after the starter pack’s debut, Bungie quietly removed the item from its store, apparently acknowledging that those concerns were valid. IGN reached out to a Bungie representative, who declined to comment on the matter.
Travis Northup is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @TieGuyTravis and read it game coverage here.