New Killer Instinct Pricing Schemes & Initial Roster Size (UPDATED!)

[CrimsonShadow]

Everyone, make sure you read the update:
http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/08/20/gamescom-killer-instinct-season-2-in-2014-launch-explained?abthid=5213741aabfd1e617a000014

because this is what it says:

-KI will be deployed in Seasons; so when you purchase each season, you'll get the characters in that season at a discounted price.
-If you decide you want all the rest of the characters in the game, you'll receive a steep discount so you won't pay more than $20 for them.

Probably worth reading Ken Lobb's explanation before passing judgement.

 

[esc1]

KI was the only reason I was mildly interested in the X1, but seeing this pricing structure I'm def not interested now. This is coming from a day1 og Xbox guy.

 

[SPECTRELIGHT]

It's obvious that MS is pressing this to be a Launch title & that the studio has limitations (staff, resources, etc).

While there is no definitive proof of the quality of the launch release version of the game, it makes business and development sense to work on the core gameplay within the time constraints.
If you observe the modern FG industry, you can see the logic in this scenario. Most of the games that have been released recently have had issues which received patches, updates, whatever within the first 2 months of the life-cycle. Season passes are a common occurrence in not only FGs but the entire VG industry. Consumers are finicky and companies are trying to maintain a game's life cycle by limiting the release of content initially and rolling out additional goodies later. If a company releases a game with all it's planned content, then people would play it for a few months, and then move onto the next latest-greatest thing, excepting the hardcore followers.
With the advent of social media, digital technology & hotfixes and their role in the modification of the VG industry, developers are NOT focusing on releasing perfectly polished games. Major companies only care about financial return and not game balance, etc., so they want the game on the market, earning profit and having future opportunities for sales.
Thus, it's not difficult to realize that Double Helix is (seemingly) trying to release the game with a stable foundation from which to build with future content within a very limited window.
I'd rather have them make the engine run smoothly (based on the deadline they have to work with) and release more characters, skins, etc later, than have a crappy engine with a flashy exterior at launch.

It would be ideal to have a larger roster, etc., at launch, but with the success of DLC characters/content and the limited roster KI has to begin with, this isn't going to happen.