Is this game Pay to Win? Does it matter? 

You'd think Aqua was joking about not liking Tarkov, but he wasn't. Everyone knows nobody dislikes Tarkov more than the people who play it frequently.

Yes it does matter. The more people become numb to monetization models like this the more it will become the norm in other games.

i’m just here for the nirvana cover at the beginning

Here from mobile, the invisible wall you hit at artificial lake rocks, does not exist on mobile 💀

Even if it doesn’t matter, it does, because they blatantly and purposely lied about it. Nobody should be ok with that.

You have to give credit to ABI, they will have no RMT problems, because they Are the RMT problems...lol.

People justifying this P2W is fucking crazy.

Arena Breakout: Your Credit Card.

That one dudes mic had me getting halo 3 lobby flashbacks

The only thing pay to win is the cases. I admit, they’re absolutely pay to win. Idk about everything in the pc mode, but the mobile version isn’t really pay to win. Yeah, you can buy gear but it’s not meaningful enough to do anything. Plus, getting gear is super easy because you get cash extremely fast

this game is pay-to-win, and yes, it matters. People are entering even the regular maps with thermal vision goggles just to satisfy their ego. It's pathetic.

They shoud remove buying the Koens for irl currency, they can leave everything else, like extra storage and cases tho. But that doesnt mean the game isnt fun :) ! I can still make 3 mil a day which would normally cost me 30euro :)

OFC it matters, if the game is not already designed around you buying ingame currency, then it will be in the future. Any game where you can buy the ingame currency, is directly incentivised to make getting the ingame currency naturally as difficult as possible. People did some math, after you finished all your tasks you need to survived 75% of your raids just to break even. Good luck having fun with this one in the long run.

As long as they don't starve me out of my money to encourage me to buy Koens (like war thunder) or give p2w players equipment unobtainable as a f2p player. I am totally fine with it.

Anyone claiming it’s not P2W is just coping hard. Doesn’t mean you have to stop playing and can’t have fun.

It allways matter we shouldnt allow monetization like this, for free games i only allow extra stuff that doest mess with the gameplay and makes it unfair for other players

Yes it does matter.

This game shows that so many people are so fed up of Tarkov, that the second they see (actually) great quality of life features, better load in times and a fun gameplay loop, they are willing to ignore or even disregard the blatancy of the pay to win this game has. I think most people playing this game have come from Tarkov, which I would argue is also a pay to win game, it’s just far less egregious. Imagine if you could buy a slick in game from Bsg themselves for $1? The community outrage would be crazy. Yet you can do it in this game

your cigars will not last simply in their packaging, they'll get dry and dusty and not smoke right

Tarkov might be an RPG once proper story is in, at the moment it is not.

the editing when aqua was talking about poop is why i love this channel

Bro the Oblivion music at 4:50 was brutal. Even tho it felt like an NPC interaction, you straight up said it.

They started writing the code nearly 10 years after BSG started writing theirs - I'd expect it to be better in numerous areas.

Honestly im really up in arms about this because i dont want future games to have these insane chinese monetization methids

If you allow players to buy currency that they can immediately go and purchase high tier gear with it P2W. That doesn’t bother you that’s fine. But don’t try and deny it. You’re just gaslighting yourself 😂

I think the biggest thing the developer should do in ABI is to implement inventory wipes each season. This is a critical weakness of Arena Breakout Mobile because there is no inventory wipe at all (the only inventory wipes is things from Faction Supply.) The absence of this feature makes the game in my opinion not fun, imagine you play this game a bit late and after progressing you start playing on map like TV Station or Armory and then gets instantly killed by full squad wearing T6 or even T7 Thermal. And with the absence or inventory wipes, some people tend to have insane gear fear. Some of them always use T3 or lower and some cheap weapon despite having Storage Value more than 15M or more. But when the developer implement inventory wipes, i guess it would make the game more fun, even though it is still P2W. Yeah you can buy Koen with real money, but are you really sure gonna spend real money on something that will wipes out at the end of the season? I think the things that makes P2W when Inventory Wipes is implemented only Case, Storage Expansion, and Elite Pass. Maybe only 5-10% of all playerbase will bought a lot of Koen with real money. And most of playerbase either choose to buy Case, Storage Expansion, Battle Pass, or Elite Pass.

Funny how the definition of pay to win has gone form "if you pay to gain the advantage again other people then it pay to win" to " well you can pay for it but you don't have to, if you want but you don't, other people can if they want but you don't have to if you don't want". Really funny if you as me

The invisible walls didnt used to be there. They were added to block off spots that were considered too good and that got lots of complaints.

Idk why people say "its okay to buy gear with irl money because I'll just kill them" thats not the point they don't get it the amount of time for you to get that full juicer T-6 400K build FAL Someone can just Buy that off the rip its not fair

Money spent on any Tencent game is money supporting the CCP. So it matters even beyond the games themselves. That's fundamentally why these games are so much more predatory than most.

Hope this title is clickbait. Of course it matters.

We love you Aqua

General Sam suggested they add a map showing the players path to tarkov some time back - it seems they implemented something similar in this game which I really like - although if I recall correctly, he wanted to see the paths of all players on there. Anyways, interesting game - however I can't see myself getting a game for which I need to pay a subscription fee just to be on par with whales.

Im not worried about pay to win, but charging for messages in global chat is nasty work!

I agree the game seems more call of duty like which isn’t a good thing imo

It's definitely P2W, but it doesn't matter because I'll dump it when I get bored in 40 hours. :D

I simply just enjoy the game. If i didn't know there was p2w i would still enjoy it. simple as that.

Lmao, aqua went from "never heard of tarkov" to "lets talk about tarkov" so fast XD

new drinking game starting at 17:15 Drink a shot everytime Aqua says "like"

tencent has been bribing a lot of streamers and content creators to have them avoid discussing the P2W and shill the game

You know shits popping off when Halo music starts playing

It always matters not everyone plays games all day for their job and has the time to grind p2w systems

18:25 noone said that is not pay to win but at least you can grind kappa that makes your precious gamma irrelevant. Besides Gamma you get a bigger stash, extra items, extra rep, DLC access (AFTER RELEASE EXPANSIONS SUCH AS SCAV LIFE) - all in all you get more stuff a bigger container, not to mention the shit ton of extra ingame content tarkov provides for a one time purchase. In ABI you can get a bigger stash (rest in that subscription is idiotic) and a small case for a total of 15USD a month. So, in about 10 month you will spend more money on ABI than on tarkov which I have played since 2016 so I guess I "saved" quite a bit of money

a lil bit more reflection would be apreciated.

you can pay real money for in game items, it matters, pay to win sucks

So, people say PC Gamers will never tolerate a P2W game, but what about Roblox roblux, GTA V Online servers, Minecraft, Star Citizen, or even the infamous EVA Online?

This video was so entertaining! And I loved the editing!

“idk what they call it in your country but in mine im somewhat called famous” - Aquafps

i guess people are ok to pay to play for world of warcraft for 20 years, but mald when the game is free to play

Literally did a "gollum, gollum" at the end :P

I'm level 20 and haven't struggled to earn my money by just playing.

I remember when aqua was SO angry that tarkov added “pay2win” with the stash upgrades but is so soft about this games BRUTAL p2w system lol my we all have a short memory don’t we… -Aqua

I love that he reads a comment "This feels like a mobile game dont know why" is crazy they dont realize this game is 3 years old and was released on mobile, its not a new game, its a port....

Brother. You spend 25 bucks kitting yourself, only to get ratted by a human Scav... What is that? Pay for me to win? People don't work for free..

that blegh was more impressive than most metal bands

Pay to win gaming is a travesty on the industry, the fact people can even question that fact is sad af. Just because you can afford to waste your money on an online game that'll likely be shut down in a few years (even less, these days) doesn't mean you should

I dont mind buying a monthly sub for a secure container, but im not a huge fan of being able to buy in game currency, they DO have to make money SOMEHOW BUT; allowing people to buy koen with REAL MONEY is a no no for me.

I don't like the payment model, but I think the real problem is the complete lack of progression. Maybe its just this beta phase, but you can buy the best gear within the first hour of playing from the market, and the game gives you enough money to do so. This accelerates the arms race and invalidates most mid level gear you bring since the armor/faceshields are stronger than in tarkov. I have always disliked having items like the altyn in the game, but its even worse in ABI with tier 6 helmets. Tarkov restricts the market for a reason. I would suggest banning all gear items from the market and have players rely on the barter trades that you unlock by leveling up. This would keep the most op gear locked behind finding them in raid, which is how it should be imo. The UI would need some changes to allow quicker gearing up, but I think this would be the ideal way for people to progress through the different levels of gear. Also solo play is really rough since most people are auto queuing into teams of 4. It isn't hard to make money if you can survive, but my experience playing solo quickly devolved into getting swarmed by a team as soon as I shot a militant and made noise. The QoL features are great and I think with some tweaks to the market and matchmaking they can have a real competitor to Tarkov, but rn it just feels off. It is a beta so I hope they recognize the problems and address them.

If its between paying 80 bucks and then another few hundred for the other maps, and a free to play game, that arguably looks exactly the same. I think you know what ill choose

No wipes is amazing, now I dont have to play the game like a Job. Glad the game isnt catered to streamers.

People acting like this game lets you buy currency to prevent cheaters blows my mind. They let you buy currency so they can make more money. It's a tencent game, they don't care about player experience unless it impacts their bottom line.

Aqua uploaded 25 seconds ago 🎉 much love

As much as I love tarkov I just can’t deal with the grind and the fact you need to get to around lvl 23 to get decent ammo for guns. I’d much rather jump on this and be able to get what I want with the market being open instantly and not being locked behind lvl 15. The grind in combination with the potential to run into ESP losers quite frequently ( especially if you run labs as I did ) makes tarkov a pain in the ass for me. It’s fun for the first month of wipe then people get burnt out and your left with all the cheaters.

I like this game way better than tarkov personally, does it suck that the 6 slot case is a monthly sub, well yeah but i find for me a casual player playing with the 2 slot or without it at all not a big deal for a free game. and if i feel like i want to support the game and get the case i can but again it doesnt make gameplay worse imo people can still get the same gear and guns i can and vis versa so not p2w to me

Maybe if the containers were a one off payment it wouldn't be as bad. I'll never agree with subscriptions in games.

for the secure container , just play and do quest u will get it sometime in reward

I’ve downloaded arena 3 times and it won’t let me get past the tutorial it just freezes then closes the entire game help

The game is fun at times but the guns just don't have the heft that they do in tarkov. Not sure exactly how to describe it but the combat almost feels like pubg or something

cant be wypen because is p2w, just like the mobile version, you can have a lot of fun in rookie maps because they dont need you to pay for gear and they are equal to all

I just feel bad for the gamers aqua MURDERS

Its pay to win until you kill a whale and sell their loot on the market for big profit and discover why the game is designed this way. "There is always a bigger fish"

I just think its funny I was saying this since day one because its a ten cent game and everyone got all upset and said its different than mobile it wont be the same etc... its like why wouldn't it be lol. ten cent literally does not care, they took league and ran it in the ground and now they gotta play cleanup crew trying to fix the hot mess its become. and that's not to say that these games are bad. that's ten cents specialty. they make genuinely good games, they are just greedy too. It wont change till the mindset of people changes so yes imo it does matter if people play games like this. I mean heck I love tarkov i want to play it right now but I'm taking a break from that too cause enough is enough.

You should play more obscure multiplayer pvp games (but don't forget to play the tarkov wipe!)

6:46 probably the nastiest thing i've heard aqua say ngl

at 4:12 that slightly Afrikaans accent from your teammate sent me

Hope you've been doing well aqua, sorry I haven't been around to comment some random stuff on your videos I've been trying to gain gainful employment and oh boy is it difficult

micro transactions of any kind that aren't "cosmetic only" are stupid, and yes it does matter. i don't want monthly subscriptions to be the new norrm for gaming. some games getaway with that kinda model, but most will not. mortal online 2 comes to mind. usually only has about 1000-1200 people online at a time since most don't want to pay 15 bucks a month for a mid tier/empty game. I haven't even tried arena breakout, and wont simply because of their business model. if i wanna play a casual extraction shooter, delta force hawk ops seems to be the best bet ATM. $70 game= own it for life $0 game+ lets say a $10 monthly sub= 7 months play time equivalent to out right purchasing it full price.

I don't agree with ABI's monetary practices but that doesn't take from the gameplay just like with Tarkov, not long ago they scammed their customers and people bend the knee for them so I can see why people would still play ABI regardless

Love the game, im with bigfry on this one. Love it but its like that girl you dated you love her but she will screw your best friend when ur not looking. The safe containers sub is just bullshit. (Let us just buy it straight out if you whanna go this way) Tbh you dont need more the cosmetics and a cosmetics battlepass. Remove gear boxes and ammo boxes loot crates(thats p2w) Its ghonna get review bombed(steam will punch it into the ground)

i swear to god he makes landmark in every game he plays lmao

Arena literall makes its players pay for global chat, let that sink in...lmao

I love P2W games. That's why I bought EOD in Tarkov.

I love ABI and people complaining about the momey for koen i found people that had bought tier 6 day one they were lvl.8 and i stole their shit off their body i dont think its an issue

The chinese are very good at copying and improving things functionally. But they lack the creative flair and artistry. This game looks very bland where as Tarkov looks so gritty and the art and map design are second to non.

pops going crazy

I resent renting the secure containers. One off payment, fine. renting? Nope

generational aqua video

the worst p2w feature might be the case, not the fact that you can just buy money with money

31:13 ? You are just trolling us OCD cult members with your backwards numbers.

Yooo.. i remember watching this video earlier than the 3 hours ! Wtf

They should've removed the "Koen exchange for real money" thing cause that is one of the main issues that is greatly affecting the grinding aspect of the game. The rest, I don't care much about(monthly subscription cases, key chains, elite pass, etc).

let just say you pay 100$ for koen and run full t6 which mode you gonna run? forbidden obviously since it have more loot and if you f2p player and play forbidden which gear you gonna run? you probably run t5 or t6 same as those p2w player SAME as them. And the reason they add buy able koen with real money is to prevent cheater from selling koen look at escape from Tarkov as an example

I enjoy this game more than i think i would lol

I downloaded it thinking I’d be able to run it, but the game itself wouldn’t launch even when downloaded 100%

Is just beta when events come you can do the task to get a 5 days 1×2 or 2×2 container. I'm not sure if there will be faction wipes

Is the game Pay to Win? Yes 100%! With all the different ways to "augment" your playstyle via buying ingame currency, buying increased auction capacity, buying items to be capable to chat this game can only be defined as Pay 2 Win! Is the game predatorily Pay to Win? Yes, 100%! What happens if you run out of quests? How are you gonna make money? By selling items on the flea market? Well 500/ week max. Ya dont have any more slots? Buy the prime version! Oh you still run out of cash as you have to survive roughly 7-8 raids with a high end setup to break even? Well get some more Koen to be able to play again! Its as simle as that! This is predatory! They hook you into playing the game and drain your money later on cause you wont be able to actually play the game otherwise! Is it an issue that the game is Pay to Win? Yes, 100%! 1. Pay to Win should ALWAYS be an issue! How comes that BSG nearly got canceled for introducing new monetization methods? After running the game for years on end? But this here is fine?!?!? Wtf? I own Tarkov for 8 years now! Even if i would have bought the Unheard edition that would be 2$/month!!!!!!! The crate here costs 10$/month,the keychain another 10 and the prime version another 5. Thats 25$/month | 300$/year, more than World of Warcraft subscription! Both monetization styles (Tarkov + Arena)suck, but one is worse than the other! And there were people that boycotted BSG not because of their standpoint regarding EOD and DLCs but because it was Pay to Win suddenly (PMC pocket size increase is 100% Pay to win!). And now these people dont care anymore? ~ 5 months later? 2. Why did the Lead Developer, shortly before release, state in an interview that they wont introduce microtransactions that give you an unfair advantage? Isnt the capability of buying a Thermal every fcking raid an advantage? Why did they lie? That interview is a few days old, there is no way they completely changed their monetization in that time! 3. By further following the narative of "Its not that bad" we further normalise Pay to Win and we will have this in more and more games in the future! Why are people defending this toxic business model? Why do people not realize that this is BAD!!!!! 4. By introducing the ability to buy ingame currency you create inflation which further devalues the money normal players will have at hand! 5. By introducing the ability to buy ingame currency the developers have 0 incentive to create events with good money rewards! Why should they stop milking their players? They even have rather the incentive to reduce money gains. Such as an auction limit of 500/ week. You want more? Gimme your MONEY! In my opinion this game is a classical bait and switch money grab! This game is a beautiful example of corporate greed! And it is really sad that there are streamers that dont realize the issue or outright downplay it! I highly suggest daddy Pests take on this matter! And its really sad that you dont take a standpoint here Aqua!

lmao at "ME LOVE TARKOV YAAAAAY" 🤣

shits pay to win

It matters. Not playing p2w bullshit

your whole idea of looking at tarkov and seeing anything that look like an RPG blows my mind everytime...