When Fieldrunners 2 ($2.99) marched into the App Store after a multi-year development cycle, it delivered exactly what fans of the immensely popular first game wanted out of a sequel: everything made bigger and better, and more of it.
One of the interesting new aspects about Fieldrunners 2 was its in-game currency system that saw you earning coins for playing through the game and then using them in an in-game shop to buy various helpful items. It was the exact kind of in-game store that’s perfectly suited to selling coin bundles in various IAP denominations, but Fieldrunners 2 contained no such thing. It’s absence of any kind of IAP was actually one of the high points pointed out in our review.
However, our community here at TouchArcade trends towards the more dedicated gamer, and over the years in-app purchasing has garnered a certain stigma that will turn off some gamers just at the mere sight of it. And it’s true, while some games use perfectly reasonable and fair IAP systems, a much larger portion use it in a manipulative way that can really break the normal balance and flow of a game just to nudge you in the direction of a purchase. It’s not surprising that many people loathe IAP no matter what the circumstances.
That’s only one side of the coin, though. Apparently there are a good majority of gamers who actually appreciate having a way to buy their progression in a game, and somewhat expect it in an iOS title. For them, the lack of any IAP in Fieldrunners 2 meant that there was no way to fast-track themselves to the upgrades that they wanted, and they were more than willing to pay for that privilege. So much so that Fieldrunners developer Subatomic Studios gets daily emails requesting the feature be added. Go figure, people requesting IAP in a game. Kind of a departure from what you typically hear around our forums.
So that leads to today’s post on Subatomic’s blog detailing how they’ve decided to add the ability to buy the in-game currency through IAP in Fieldrunners 2. Now, before you get your pitchforks and torches out, it sounds like the team has the right idea for going about this delicate issue. Basically, nothing about the game as it currently is will change. Items will cost the same, you’ll earn the same amounts of currency for playing that you always have, and so on. The only change will be the addition to buy the in-game currency if you wish to fast-track your progress.
It sounds pretty reasonable, those opposed to IAP can simply ignore it and play Fieldrunners 2 just as they always have. Those looking for a leg up can drop a dollar or two on a coin pack and go wild in the in-game shop. Seems like a win-win, but I know there will be at least some amount of mouth-frothing at the idea that Fieldrunners 2‘s purity is being sullied with the dreaded IAP. It will be interesting to see how it all shakes out, and the 1.2 update with IAP is expected to hit sometime this week.
