Today in a post on Reddit's r/gaming subreddit, the microtransaction structure for Fable Legends was revealed to the public.

Fable Legends is the next title in the Fable series from Lionhead Studios and the first main series title not quarterbacked by Peter Molyneux. Fable Legends has diverted from the series' history as a largely single player boxed release in favor of a co-op focused Free-to-Play experience. And as we all know, with Free-to-Play, usually comes microtransactions.

The leaked image comes from the game's ongoing closed Beta and breaks down how players can purchase in-game currency using real money.

The system follows a structure that should be familiar to most gamers, players can pay increasing amounts of real world currency for in-game gold at an increasing value.

The leaked image

$4.99 for 850 Gold - a "pound"

$9.99 for 1850 Gold - a "mark"

$14.99 for 2850 Gold - a "stone"

$29.99 for 6000 Gold - a "hundredweight"

$59.99 for 12800 Gold - a "ton"

As one might expect, the "ton" of gold for $59.99 is pitched by the Fable Legends' system as the best offer, an offer that has many gamers scoffing.

The thread where this image leaked sees some commenters claiming to be in the beta stating that the microtransactions are for aesthetics and are not simply "pay-to-win". One thing to note is that the beta is under an NDA, thus one should be very careful on discussing any knowledge you might have of it and that the image itself may be pulled unceremoniously from the internet at any time.

Microtransactions have been a hot button issue for the games industry since their introduction. Many people claim they are exploitative, greedy and create situations where players are forced to pay real money to compete. Others say that free-to-play means more games and argue that microtransactions aren't an obligation for those with the time to earn unlocks the slower, free ways.

Fable Legends is expected to release in 2016 on Xbox One and Windows 10, and we will continue to watch this story as it develops.

Quick Take

I don't typically engage in microtransactions so it's hard for me to summon the outrage in this case. However, a leak of this kind creates a lot of animosity towards a game when the only information available is "yes, they're charging money, look how much". The microtransaction system was always going to be announced. But in this case, with no explanation or softening words from the developers, the typical response to a microtransaction system is only magnified. This information was under NDA by its participants, so we can certainly expect a reaction from Lionhead, even if its just a shift in marketing strategy.