Pro or anti-Ubisoft? Response to Black Flag remake criticism divides fans

As we previously reported, early reviews for Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced (available on Amazon from $60) have been largely positive. Even so, the remake had only 70% positive reviews on Steam at the time of writing. The criticism is directed less at the game itself than at the large number of paid add-ons Ubisoft included from day one. Ubisoft has now addressed the complaints, though not through a press release or social media post. Instead, the company responded directly to a negative Steam review. Referring to the DLC, a Ubisoft developer wrote:

We've seen your feedback since launch, and we're reading all of it. Thank you for caring this much about Black Flag Resynced. We want to be clear on one point: the standard edition is the full, complete experience. Every mission, every island, the full story and the complete world are all there, with nothing held back. The additional packs are entirely optional extras for players who want them, never a requirement to enjoy or complete the game. We'll keep listening as you play! 

Community split into two camps

Ubisoft’s response has not gone down well with many Reddit users. The criticism is aimed less at the mere existence of DLC than at the amount of content involved and the timing of its release. Deluxe Edition buyers, in particular, feel shortchanged because even that version does not include everything. There are currently five separate DLC packs priced at around $10 each, all of which contain exclusive skins and weapons. The latter are another major point of contention, as the packs include not only cosmetic items but also weapons and accessories with unique perks. Deluxe Edition buyers are especially likely to feel disappointed, since even they do not receive all of the available content.

The other camp, however, considers the intense backlash over optional add-ons to be excessive, especially since no essential gameplay content is locked behind a paywall. Their argument is that this kind of microtransaction has been standard practice at Ubisoft and other major publishers for years. As long as the full story can be experienced without additional purchases, many users believe negative reviews over optional content packs are disproportionate. Opinions on the matter are welcome in the comments.