Tekken 8 Steam Rating Plummets as Fans Criticize Battle Pass, Monetization Issues

Fans of the fighting game Tekken 8 review bombed the title on Steam, causing its rating to plummet as they criticized the new battle pass and some monetization issues.

The controversy comes despite the game receiving relatively positive feedback following its launch on Jan. 26, 2024. Since then, it has slowly spiraled down the drain as its rating on Steam has dropped from "mostly positive" to "mixed" in recent days.

Tekken 8 Steam Rating Plummets

The issue is focused primarily on Tekken 8's "Tekken Fight Pass," which is developer Bandai Namco's official name for the title's battle pass. It went live on Apr. 1, 2024, alongside the full launch of the new DLC character, Eddy Gordo.

The battle pass feature works similarly to traditional battle passes in other games, including free and premium tracks that reward players with various in-game items. Many thought of the feature as an April Fool's Day joke but since then, many fans have gone to social media platforms to express their discontent, according to Kotaku.

Many slammed Bandai Namco for what they called predatory microtransactions, especially since almost all of the best rewards in the Tekken Fight Pass are in the premium tier. As frustrations reached an all-time high, Tekken 8 players banded together from Reddit and X to review bomb the game.

A lot of the recent reviews for Tekken 8 on Steam are very negative, with one player who has more than 140 hours logged saying that Bandai Namco "managed to kill every good mechanic" in the game. He added that the company also shoved in "corporate greed at its finest."

Another player, who has roughly 20 hours in the game, said that the battle pass feature is "one of the worst I've seen in a long time." A third player said that Tekken 8 could have been the best in the franchise if Bandai Namco had not spent its time, resources, and efforts monetizing it with god-tier awful battle pass rewards.

Various Battle Pass and Monetization Issues

The issue with microtransactions started in February when a surprise cash shop reveal a month after launch left the community divided. While some players were able to get behind Bandai Namco's promises that the money would support the game's development, others expressed their anger, said PCGamer.

Since then, things have only gone downhill as Tekken 8's battle pass included assets that have made an appearance in previous games in the franchise and came to the premium tier. This was made even worse given the fact that the Tekken Fight Pass will cost players $6 to unlock the premium rewards.

Furthermore, the game also suffered from various issues following the launch of its latest update that brought Eddy Gordo into the mix. Bandai Namco confirmed there were more issues in the version 1.03.01 update that the developers will work on fixing.

Some of these include Zafina's backdash and Tornado moves messing with some other combos, which many players have pointed out. One player showed that there was a glitch that allowed players to move during the time freeze for Rage Arts and Heat Burst activations, according to EventHubs.