CA wants to avoid pay-to-win in Total War: Arena

Recently we had the chance to have a chat with The Creative Assembly's development manager Stefan Aluttis about the upcoming strategy MMO Total War: Arena, and one of the aspects we touched upon was the premium units that players can buy in the game.

Aluttis tells us that cooperation with Wargaming, which the company collabs with for Total War: Arena, allowed the company to make 10vs10 online title "less monetized than it was before", and there will be less emphasis on paid content. Premium units are available for purchase, but to prevent a pay-to-win scenario these will only perform on a "medium level": better than stock units, but worse than fully upgraded standard ones.

The Creative Assembly also told us they are planning on other cosmetic paid content, including paint packs to colour units in a special way and consumables that give units a slight temporary boost. Additionally, by the next closed beta patch you'll be able to buy cosmetic items in order to personalise your units; think different shields, helmets, decals, or armour variations. Your heroic commander will also be customisable in the near future.

Be sure to check out our hands-on with Total War: Arena for more information.