Upcoming Changes to Monetization

After over 4+ years of content support for Killing Floor 2 since Early Access launch, it has been our pleasure to provide continuous features, weapons, maps, modes, zeds, and more at no cost to you. Along with that, we have provided numerous cosmetics, characters, weapons skins, emotes and FX packs through Zedconomy system that with your financial support has enabled us to continue supporting the game with free seasonal updates and hotfixes for these many years.

As we have looked at the life cycle of the game, we strived to look at new ways that will enable the game to live on and grow well into the future. With where we are with the project, we know there’s a hungry desire for everything featured in Killing Floor 2. While the updates have all been free in terms of features, weapons, zeds, maps, etc, the cost of development has certainly been anything but. Ultimately, that status quo of our current strategy cannot sustain the current level of support that you have all grown accustomed to without a major shakeup. After multiple months of internal debate and investigation, we came to two paths forward:

• Significantly reduce the amount we can provide each update to better match its projected return
• Find new sources of revenue for the project that goes beyond the Zedconomy system will enable us to maintain our current level of update quantity and scope.

As huge fans of the game ourselves, the thought of scaling back what we could build, create, and offer would have disappointed us just as much as we felt it would have disappointed you. That left us with doing what we know will be more controversial but we feel in the long run will enable us to better service the game.

So what does that mean in practicality? This means starting with our next content update all-new weapons will be sold as DLC along with 5 Unique Weapon Skins custom made for the weapon at a price of $9.99 SRP. We know that this news is going to come with a lot of concerns so we would like to get out in front and address some of the obvious questions:

• Will these weapons have any advantages over existing free weapons (i.e. Pay to Win)?

No, we have made a concerted effort to design of these weapons as we have with previous weapons to not be better than any weapon of similarly targeted tier in terms of raw stats. Instead, these weapons are designed to provide new gameplay experiences and fill new roles within the arsenal that are not already served.

Additionally, all Paid Weapons will work with the existing Shared Content system for Multiplayer Servers in which if one player owns a Paid Weapon on a server all other players will have access to that weapon within the match to prevent any possible gameplay discrepancies.

Finally, we will be committed to continuing to balance these weapons among others within subsequent updates and patches for the life of the game.

• How will I be able to know if I like the weapon before I buy it?

With the Shared Content system, anytime you access a multiplayer match with someone who owns the DLC you’ll have full access to try the weapon if you’re on the fence about owning it.

• Why weapons and that price?

Weapons are the lifeblood of the Killing Floor 2 and Tripwire as a whole. They are what we excel at as a studio and is what is most valuable to the player in the game because of the interesting gameplay they provide. Additionally, we initially developed the Shared Content system with weapons in mind as a means of trying to keep our multiplayer gameplay on an even playfield.

We feel we needed a price that is in line with our other cosmetic items such as outfits, characters, FX packs, and skin packs that also gives us the best opportunity to fill the needs to enable us to sustain long term support of the game. As an added value, each Weapon will come paired with 5 unique mint weapon skins that will let you visually differentiate them to your liking.

• Does that mean if I don’t buy these weapons, I’ll never get a new weapon in Killing Floor 2 to play with?

Not true, while all-new weapons going forward will be Paid DLC, we have a new initiative that we will announce in the coming days that will add new weapon types to existing weapons that will provide fresh gameplay experiences. This new initiative will be free along with other non-cosmetic content.

• Why not sell [X] and not weapons?

While we explored numerous different alternative ideas, ultimately none of them would have fit within the timeline, strategy, resources, and projected return that would have served the purpose of sustaining KF2 into the years ahead. Simply put anything in line with the status quo of our current strategy would not be enough. So while we understand this measure is far more controversial, it will benefit KF2 as a whole in the long run.

• Does this mean you are getting rid of the Zedconomy System?

The team is evaluating potential future changes to the Zedconomy crate and key system, but no changes are happening with the Fall update. At this time, we are prioritizing work with our current resource availability on continued additions to the content of the game, but players will see more direct purchase bundles, such as the Clot Backpack Bundle and Dragon & Koi Weapon Skin bundles, in the future.

• What does this mean for other future content (maps, modes, bosses, etc)?

There are no plans to make other future features and content paid DLC for Killing Floor 2. We would still be providing these elements from maps, modes, bosses, zeds, and quality of life updates free of charge to the player with our seasonal updates. When possible, we endeavor to not split the community through paywalls which is why even with this initiative we are making sure to have the Shared Content system in place so that multiplayer gameplay will be a consistent experience.

• What does this mean for modding?

There are no plans to change our current strategy and support for modding. We will continue to support and add new hooks as we are able to throughout development to further the modding community for KF2. As a tangible example to our continued commitment, we will be adding a system so that mappers will be able to make their own Objective Mode maps that are recognized by the game, in addition, to addressing Mid-match dosh issues with custom weapons within our next major content update.

While we recognize as a team this news is bound to come with many strong emotions, we hope you now understand the rationale of this decision for the future of Killing Floor 2 and that you’ll continue to support us and the game. The support and continued commitment to the game from the community is an essential part of its success and what drives us to keep making new awesome gameplay and content for you to enjoy.

See you all on the Killing Floor.

David Amata
Product Lead of Killing Floor 2