After seven years of development, Tempo's free-to-play autobattler The Bazaar has released in open beta. The Bazaar's early access period attracted positive sentiment, with our own Eric Switzer calling it "the most fascinating and competitive strategy game in ages." However, the monetisation elements present in the game's open beta have attracted some criticism (nice spot, PC Gamer).
The Bazaar is set to receive a 'prize pass' - a paid system that allows players to grind hero-specific 10-card expansions. These expansions rotate out after a month, but players can still purchase them afterwards for 999 gems - premium currency worth around $10. This monetisation isn't much different from similar features in other popular digital card games like Hearthstone. Nevertheless, a section of the game's community isn't happy, with several players pointing to a quote from the game's 2018 crowdfunding campaign.
In the campaign's description, the game's creator Andrey "Reynad" Yanyuk expresses his desire to solve the "pay-to-win model" of card games. "In my game, you start the game with a couple of classes unlocked. Those classes have all the cards in the game for them. Your class is just as balanced as any other," Reynad writes. "As...
