Recently, Asmongold has been in the news discussing both the increasing number of streamers flocking to Kick and the rise of “hall monitor” culture from viewers who flood streamers’ chats to try to drum up beef. He’s back in the news again, this time taking a stand against the “pay to win” monetization that’s been added to the Destiny 2 battle pass. Of course, it should be noted that Asmongold doesn’t play much Destiny 2, but in having the new additions explained to him, he’s shocked to see that developer Bungie has seemingly “crossed the line.”
As mentioned, Asmongold wasn’t speaking from first-hand experience. Instead, in the news first spotted by Dexerto, he was reacting to a viral video from Aztecross that details how Destiny 2 has fallen into “microtransaction hell.” While watching the video, Asmongold has several comments, but it’s maybe best represented by a short clip where he simply says, “Guys, I think that’s kinda bad.” Obviously, in his hour-long look at everything Bungie has been doing, he goes into a lot more detail than that, but the sentiment certainly sums up how the community is feeling right now.
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If you haven’t been keeping up with Destiny 2, the battle pass gives players “god rolls” on craftable items. With microtransactions, you can now speed that process up and get any item you want simply by spending money. Sure, you’ll need to actually get the item to drop before you can craft it, but that part is actually relatively easy if you focus on it during a season. Getting the “god roll” is a bigger deal because it means you can make that weapon a much better version of itself.
Asmongold would later compare the battle pass to games like Diablo Immortal, which was also heavily criticized for its monetization when it launched, calling this “the same song and dance.” He did make an important note that Bungie wouldn’t be doing this if players weren’t spending money on it. As Asmongold pointed out, “The players can complain, but they keep playing.” Essentially, the only way Bungie is going to stop is if they stop making money from the practice, which doesn’t seem likely any time soon.
