Shiny Shoe, the developer of Monster Train, has announced that its Early Access title, Inkbound, will soon be going through a rather significant change. The title will be dropping its in-game monetisation efforts, all in a bid to trend with industry and player sentiments.
As noted in a Steam blog post, we're told that Leveling Passes will be removed and that content from former ones will be turned into cosmetic-only optional supporter pack DLCs sold on Steam. To add to this, the in-game currency known as Shinies is being changed into Vault Dust, which can now be earned solely through playing the game and can be used to acquire cosmetic items.
Players who purchased Shinies in the past will also be rewarded with twice the amount in Vault Dust regardless of whether the Shinies were spent or not. Lastly, to ensure players get a decent variety of cosmetic items, chests will occasionally be rewarded upon defeating a Guardian that will reward a random cosmetic reward that you don't already have.
All of these changes will be put into effect from October 27, 2023, when the next major update for Inkbound arrives. The game is planned to leave Early Access sometime next year.