In-game shopping arrives today in Tekken 8, including a crossover with the UNIQLO brand

A day that’s been slightly dreaded by fans who are leery of micro-transactions, the in-game shop is here for fighting game Tekken 8.

Your choice really

If you’re unaware, there’s a brief history with in-game ‘micro-transactions’ and Tekken 8. The hotly-anticipated game just arrived last month, and has done quite well for itself, but when it landed, Bandai Namco’s newest did so as a mainly whole product. Not that there won’t be season passes and add-ons, but there was no need to buy anything from within the core game to have a ‘complete’ experience.

Then came word from the publisher that what was formerly presented wasn’t going to be the quo. An in-game store would be arriving in shot order, dropping additional stuff for fans to buy using real-world currency. Now, if you’re relatively even-tempered about this kind of stuff, you might say ‘well, just ignore that it’s there’.

And you’d be right in that thinking, though you have to understand that there are many fans who take massive offense at this kind of stuff in general. Those fans are a little extra ticked when it comes to Tekken 8 too, since they believe that Bandai Namco effectively deked fans, getting them to buy into the game on the pretense that this wouldn’t happen.

Would it have mattered if they did though? Tekken 8 has gotten a great initial reception from both fans and critics, and would longtime players have really not bought the game if they knew it was going to have that in-game shop? We’d say ‘no’, but that’s your call, much like making use of the aforementioned store that arrived in the game today.

The latest update added it in, and delivers a mixture of both paid and free content, including crossover items from real-world clothier UNIQLO. Scroll down to check out the full list of new stuff added today, for all versions of Tekken 8.

TEKKEN SHOP implementation

• The TEKKEN SHOP is now open! In the TEKKEN SHOP, you can buy various customization items, such as legacy character costumes and avatar skins of specific characters. New content will be added to the shop monthly with the latest trends of the King of Iron Fist Tournament!
• Purchasable items in the TEKKEN SHOP include both free and paid items. Paid items can be purchased with TEKKEN COINS obtained in each platform’s store.

In-game UT x TEKKEN collaboration items

• To celebrate the 30^th anniversary of the TEKKEN Series, UT t-shirts corresponding to their real-life counterparts sold in UNIQLO stores will be available for free in the TEKKEN SHOP. These customization items are available for both playable characters (2 types) and avatar customization (1 type).

Measures against players discovered cheating in RANKED MATCH

• High ranking players who were reported multiple times and found to have been cheating were removed from the LEADERBOARD, and their ranks have been reset to BEGINNER.

Feature improvements

• In the TEKKEN FIGHT LOUNGE, matchmaking after finishing a match with the Match Anywhere option selected will continue without needing to select it again.
• In the TEKKEN FIGHT LOUNGE, My Profile can now be selected when accessing the customization shop’s staff or terminal.
• The status of members in a GROUP in a PLAYER MATCH is now displayed.
• Maximum number of consecutive wins displayed increased from 99 to 999.

Bandai Namco press release