Plough through enemies with purchased upgrades and get out of control: MoistCr1tiKaL tests Pokémon Unite for the pay-to-win factor.
Charles “MoistCr1TiKaL” White Jr. has conducted an experiment on the pay-to-win factor in Pokémon Unite. The “penguinz0”, also known by his YouTube nickname, said in his conclusion: the system is unfair and you can buy significant advantages in the game.
Snowball effect through bought upgrades
The content creator bought about $100 worth of Aeos Gems for a stream on Saturday. With that, he got all the status upgrades for the Pokémon and then swung into matches against players who most likely hadn’t spent any money on the game.
The difference was noticeable quite quickly, as he could easily get kills and plough through even a superior number of opponents. As a result, he also levelled up much faster and snowballed further and further out of control. For example, he ended a match with 49 kills and over 200 energy collected. The unfair advantage was no coincidence, but repeated itself in other matches. According to Cr1TiKaL, Pokémon Unite is the “most pay-to-win game” he has ever seen.
The updates are not behind an exclusive paywall, but can also be unlocked through progress in the game. That takes longer, though. Cr1TiKaL noted that he could only upgrade an item twice in eight hours of play without upgrades, for example. Spending money on upgrades was faster because he could buy 50 at a time. Because he invested 100 US dollars in the game, the playful advantage was clearly visible.
