It was bound to happen sooner or later. Yesterday saw the official announcement for CTR: Nitro-Fueled’s next big Grand Prix this August, and while a lot of eyes were busy with the latest additions to the game (who can blame them, with the cute Baby T. and those toddler versions of Crash and Coco) a very minor detail slipped past a lot of other players.
Embarrassingly enough I was one of those people, but I guess it doesn’t matter since it’s now official – starting with the next Back N. Time Grand Prix, publisher Activision will be adding microtransactions to Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled. The minor detail was noted in the section under the Pit Stop, which is the in-game storefront for buying new characters, karts and other customization items through the use of Wumpa Coins, which is Crash Team Racing: Nitro-Fueled’s in-game currency.
Up until now, Wumpa Coins can be earned by just playing the game, but some players have recently been complaining that the rates at which they are given are low, requiring a decent amount of grind just to purchase an item in the Pit Stop. Now, if you’re thinking that the solution for that is to just buff up the rates slightly so that players can earn Wumpa Coins faster, then you’re dead wrong and very naïve – why do that when you can just give the option to buy those in-game currencies with real money, just so players have the option to skip the grind?
“Starting in early August, players will have the option to purchase Wumpa Coin bundles from their game console stores to supplement the Coins they earn by playing,” the original post from Activision states. “This option won’t change the game’s core mechanics – players will still earn Wumpa Coins by playing the game in any mode, just as before. They will just able to purchase additional coins if they choose.”
As much as some people might see this as a rather harmless and optional thing to get into, it would probably be better to just ramp up the Wumpa Coins drop rate just so there will be less grind overall, which would in the end benefit everyone involved. But then again, where’s the profitability in that?
We’ve reached out to Activision for a comment on how Wumpa Coin rates will be implemented moving forward, and we will post an update if they should respond.
