The announcement of Injustice 2’s gear system has gotten many fans of the game worried that this new feature will drastically alter the competitiveness of the series. Earlier this week, Brian Goodman, Marketing Manager at NetherRealm Studios explained how the development team behind the game is working to keep the title balanced for both competitive players and casual fans alike.
In an interview with Eurogamer, Goodman says that they hope to appeal to all fans of the series and are aware that the addition of the gear system has caused some worry in the community. “We anticipated what some of the hesitation might be from players and are developing intelligently to deliver something which will hopefully appeal to all of our fans… There’s been a lot of discussion on how best to communicate this because we are, obviously, throwing a bit of a monkey wrench in the works as far as some fighting game purists might find. We’re doing things to make sure people who want a pure fighting game can get that.”
He goes on to list some of the solutions the team has come up with. “We’re creating modes where it’s an even playing field and you can gear up for aesthetic reasons but your character stats are on an even plane. We also have modes where gear actually impacts your strength, which is a whole new level of strategy.”
NetherRealm studios will also focus on the balancing the online version of the game in order to make the game accessible to everyone.
Injustice 2 is set to release sometime early next year for PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, with a mobile title also coming Android and iOS.