Why Is Dragon's Dogma 2 Getting Review Bombed on Steam? Microtransaction Concerns and Poor PC Performance

It's a known fact that review bombing is becoming more and more common these days in the gaming industry, especially for AAA titles. Whether or not that's justified is a topic for another time, but the latest victim of collective community frustration is none other than Capcom's newly released Dragon's Dogma 2. Despite not being out for more than a day, the title now has "Mostly Negative" reviews on Steam. Players might think that the game is being slammed for its performance issues, but it's more than that.

Players Believe Microtransactions Plague Dragon's Dogma 2 

If you're wondering why one of the biggest games of 2024 is getting such a poor reception from its fanbase, microtransactions play a huge part. It's a complete shocker for everyone, as Capcom never mentioned such microtransaction features before the game's launch. 

On Dragon's Dogma 2's Steam DLC page, you can see multiple crucial resources and utilities needed to progress in the game, which are locked behind several microtransactions. These microtransactions include purchases for the Fast-travel, Arisen editor, Portcrystals, and more. What's worse, these purchases do not permanently grant you utilities. They come in limited numbers and can be used only for a few items. 

One of the most helpful negative reviews on Dragon's Dogma 2's Steam page mentions a microtransaction that costs $1.99 USD to edit your character's appearance. As character data is stored on Capcom's server, players cannot get a workaround for this microtransaction. 

Dragon’s Dogma 2 Performance Issues and Other Concerns 

It's not only microtransactions in Dragon's Dogma 2 that have caused an uproar in the community; the game's performance has disappointed many players. Players are facing regular crashes and inconsistent frame rates even on top-end PC hardware, and consoles. It's still unclear what's causing these performance problems, but Capcom has acknowledged them and is working to provide a fix. Players have also lashed out against Denuvo, one of the industry's best anti-tampering software.

In the past, Denuvo has been blamed by many in the PC community for decreasing the performance of their systems. Denuvo was forced to step in and shut down these claims to reassure everyone that their software doesn't cripple game performance. 

It's undoubtedly a disastrous start for the game that was supposed to be a GOTY contender. Capcom's attempt to hide microtransactions and other performance issues clearly hasn't gone well with the community. Players are waiting to see how Capcom will address these issues and whether the upcoming updates will improve the game's performance issues and other concerns.