Resident Evil 7 Has Confirmed The Pre-Order Bonuses It Will Have, One Thing It Won't

Pre-order bonuses are the way of the world these days. Big AAA companies won't release a major title without some kind of pre-order bonuses, and that applies even to VR-oriented games like Resident Evil 7. Capcom revealed what's in the package and what's not. And microtransactions are not in the package.

That's right. According to the Tweet above, Capcom will not have microtransactions as part of the pre-order bonus. In fact, the way the tweet reads it sounds as if the game won't have microtransactions at all.

The in-game bonuses for those who pre-order Resident Evil 7 includes a survival burner set that appears to include explosive material. There's a shotgun set with extra shotgun shells. There's a recovery set with health potions; a handgun set containing various caliber of pistol bullet, and a chem fluid set... I have no idea what the chem set is about.

The lack of microtransactions in Resident Evil 7 is the real shocker, though. Microtransactions have been the bane of recent gaming, turning many games into grinds so that players are practically forced to buy goods from the cash shop to help make leveling or unlocking things easier.

Many publishers say that they can't make bank on a game without microtransactions, something that has been present in many Capcom titles, with one of the most egregious being Street Fighter x Tekken. Many gamers question why companies just don't lower the budgets for games instead of tacking on needless microtransactions. Publishers oftentimes respond saying that they need the big budgets for the graphics. Of course, many of today's games don't look much better than most low-budget indie titles, especially if you compare games like The Turing Test and Obduction with other AAA titles.

Many gamers also question why companies just don't scale back on the graphics instead of chopping up the game piecemeal and selling it via DLC and using microtransactions to unlock content or expand the character abilities. The common response from publishers is that scaling back graphics means lower sales, even though technically games still have to get downgraded (like Watch Dogs or The Division) to run on consoles. So what's the point?

Well, in the case of Resident Evil 7 Capcom has already admitted that costs on graphics were scaled way down thanks to 3D scanning and photogrammetry. This has allowed them to scan in real life objects and people without having to spend time manually modeling and crafting assets. It's a technique that Kojima Productions had embedded into the Fox Engine, allowing developers to quickly implement high-quality assets into an in-engine pipeline.

Could the reduced costs of assets be the catalyst for Capcom abandoning microtransactions for Resident Evil 7 or are they simply trying to avoid catching the wrath of gamers who have grown tired of $60 games filled with mobile-style cash shops? There's nothing in the tweet or a follow-up from the account that explains the situation, but if Resident Evil 7 launches for home consoles and PC with no microtransactions, then it's good tidings all the way around.

You can look for the upcoming horror game to launch on January 24th, 2017 for the Xbox One, PS4, PSVR and PC.