Uncharted 4 is coming very, very soon (despite the unfortunate delay) and now developers Naughty Dog has detailed out plans in support the multiplayer experience. Ever since Uncharted 2, the multiplayer component of the game keeps on evolving and has a sizeable community playing. With that in mind, all new maps, weapons, vanity items (cosmetics like hats), taunts and others will be added for free to all players.
The catch is you will need to keep on playing to earn these items. Completing Daily Challenges and winning matches will earn you Relics, the in-game currency. With the Relics you can use them to buy DLC chests, either a Vanity Chest or a Gameplay Chest. These chests will net you a random item each time, but all will be brand new so you are guaranteed to unlock new ones each time.
Interestingly, while the post did not outright say it, but there are micro-transactions. You can buy Uncharted Points with real money, which you can use to immediately unlock items.
However, we believe this model may be the right way to go for multiplayer. Naughty Dog is focusing on making the multiplayer fair and not segregate the community with new maps locked behind DLC. Other games like Street Fighter V are taking steps to mitigate the issues for having too much DLC in order to keep the community strong, which is a real issue. When DLC maps arrive, the people who buy them will flock to the new maps while leaving the other players in the older maps thus segregating the player base. Another sad example is Evolve, a multiplayer-focused game that failed to attract a strong crowd due to the way too upfront DLCs available.
Another note to point out is that Naughty Dog is planning to support the multiplayer with new content as far as until the Spring of next year. The road map they’ve shown should give prospective players enough reason to keep their copies of Uncharted 4 and play more of the multiplayer as it gets bigger with upcoming updates.
Uncharted 4 will be released in May 10th exclusively for the PS4.