Tekken 8 Recent Reviews Are 'Mixed' After Controversial Addition

Following the controversial addition of the Battle Pass and microtransactions in Tekken 8's latest update, its recent Steam review status is now sitting at mixed. Tekken 8 originally launched this past January to rave reviews from fans and critics, where it became one of 2024's highest-rated games alongside Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. While the game still has a mostly positive reception, perception of the game has started shifting to be a bit more negative than what it received at launch, due to some controversial post-launch announcements involving microtransactions.

Fully priced triple-A games having microtransactions is a controversial gaming trend. Tekken 8 is another game that has implemented them, with the title garnering controversy when an in-game shop feature was added in late February. Fans slammed the game for its implementation, as Tekken 8 was already fully priced at the new standard of $70, but still had in-game cosmetics that needed to be bought with real money. Fans got even more upset when Tekken 8 announced a Battle Pass, with the backlash reflected in the most recent reviews for the game.

Following Tekken 8's latest update, some of the recently posted reviews on Tekken 8's Steam page have been negative, where out of 3135 reviews, the score has been brought down to «mixed.» While the game maintains a «very positive» rating among the 16,000+ reviews it received, fans are using the Steam reviews in order to air their grievances about Bandai Namco and criticize the publisher's recent decisions with Tekken 8.

Many of these negative reviews were about Tekken 8's in-game shop and recent battle pass, with some users calling Bandai Namco greedy in the process for pulling a bait-and-switch by including these features. Users also criticized how Bandai Namco had prioritized monetizing a game that already costs $70 over addressing other issues, such as the number of rage quitters who were unplugging during a match or the balance