Hello,
Thank you to all our players for supporting VirtuaCreature. We have some major changes coming soon, so we’d like to clearly outline them here in advance.
Business model overhaul
We are no longer interested in running a F2P economy, as it has not only been unsuccessful but feels increasingly cruel trying to design. As such, all microtransaction elements are being removed; this includes the Gold Synths that were directly purchasable, as well as all items from the Premium Shop.
In their place will be a single, permanent purchase called the Premium Upgrade. Here is what your purchase will unlock:
- A permanent 2x XP boost for all creatures
- All 6 Creature Boxes available
- 1024 slots for Chest, Equipment & Cooking storage
- 12 Cosmetic Borders
- 12 Profile Icons
While all purchasing options for individual items will no longer be available, some in-game methods of obtaining said items will persist. These include:
- Revives can be obtained through Daily Missions, events or playing multiplayer matches
- Temporary XP Boosts can be obtained through Daily Missions, events or playing multiplayer matches
- Profile Icons not unlocked by the Premium Upgrade can be obtained through events or playing multiplayer matches
Additionally, a few mechanics will either be altered or removed:
- The default amount of Creature Boxes available to all players will be 1 instead of 2
- Account Renaming will no longer be available
- Benefits from the Premium Upgrade will not have cross-platform compatibility like previous purchases; multi-platform players will need to purchase the upgrade on any platform they want the benefits for
Finally, it should be noted that previous purchases will not transfer over. Any purchased Gold Synths or items obtained with them will no longer be available after this update.
How to purchase the new Premium Upgrade
On Steam:
The Premium Upgrade will be available as a DLC on the game’s store page. Players can also be directed to said DLC landing page via relevant in-game buttons.
On Mobile:
Attempting to access a premium feature, such as selecting a locked Creature Box, will redirect users to a screen where the upgrade will be purchasable. Various buttons in relevant areas will also be available to direct the player to said purchase screen.
We hope these changes will lead to a better, more stable player experience going forward.
Account wipe
Due to both the huge overhaul of our monetization as well as various security & structural flaws with our current account system, we’ve decided to reset our servers and wipe all user accounts. Players who open the game after the next update will be prompted to create a new account, or back out of the process entirely and play with online features restricted. To be clear, the data for current accounts will not be maintained or held by us, and likewise will not be accessible to any players.
Please note that this will not effect your save data! Your in-game progress and creatures will not be altered after this update, only data directly related to your account, such as purchases, Player Level, quantity of Revives & XP Boosts, etc.
End of iOS platform support
Due to unpopularity among players, as well as the difficulty and expenses generated working with Apple, we’ve decided to end support for all iOS devices and will be removing the game from the App Store. This means the upcoming update will not be released to the App Store, however current iOS users can keep the current version installed on their device if they wish to play offline.
If you have any questions or concerns regarding this information, please reach out to us or leave a comment in relevant spaces and we’d be happy to address it. This update & overhaul is planned to release in May, however if we find any critical issues we will resolve them before moving forward with a release.
