Due to a Microsoft store listing last month, rumours have been swirling about microtransactions included in Crash Bandicoot 4. People were understandably expecting the worst, with the store listing stating that the game would feature “in-app purchases”. However, the game’s developer has insisted that this is not the case. In a recent Twitter post, Toys For Bob promised that microtransactions would not be coming to Crash Bandicoot 4. They also added that players will receive the “Totally Tubular” skins as a bonus for buying the game digitally.
We're seeing confusion about #MTX in @CrashBandicoot 4 and want to be 💎 clear: There are NO MICROTRANSACTIONS in #Crash4. As a bonus, the Totally Tubular skins are included in all digital versions of the game.
— Toys For Bob (@ToysForBob) June 30, 2020
Whilst it’s great to see some clarification, we need to talk about the elephant in the room. Toys For Bob’s remake of Crash Team Racing enjoyed critical and commercial success until microtransactions were implemented post-launch. In Screen Rant’s preview of the game, they mention that developers promised them that microtransactions wouldn’t be included at an E3 preview event.
Activision and Toys For Bob have a controversial history with microtransactions, but this public promise will surely dissuade the developers from adding them in the future. Developers and publishers have broken promises in the past though. Hopefully, the negative PR and public outcry would be enough to convince Activision and Toys For Bob to keep their promise.