The launch of Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen on October 9 is already reshaping how Capcom is selling the base game. Starting June 25, the Deluxe Edition and the vast majority of the game's paid DLC packs will be pulled from storefronts across PS5, Xbox, and PC. The base game itself will receive a permanent price cut.
Dragon's Dogma 2 launched back in March 2024 with a suite of microtransactions that immediately drew community backlash. Items like the Portcrystal (a fast travel marker), the Wakestone (used to revive dead NPCs), and multiple Rift Crystal currency bundles were all available at launch for real money, despite being obtainable through normal play. The reaction from players was swift and vocal.
What's actually being removed
The full list of content going offline on June 25 is substantial. Here's everything that will no longer be purchasable:
- Dragon's Dogma 2 Deluxe Edition
- A Boon for Adventurers – New Journey Pack
- Harpysnare Smoke Beacons – Harpy Lure Item
- Heartfelt Pendant – A Thoughtful Gift
- Ambivalent Rift Incense – Change Pawn Inclinations
- Makeshift Gaol Key – Escape from Gaol
- Art of Metamorphosis – Character Editor
- Portcrystal – Warp Location Marker
- Wakestone – Restore the Dead to Life
- 500 Rift Crystals – Points to Spend Beyond the Rift
- 1500 Rift Crystals – Points to Spend Beyond the Rift
- 2500 Rift Crystals – Points to Spend Beyond the Rift
Two packs survive the cull: the Explorer's Camping Gear and the Music and Sound Collection custom sounds. Everything else is gone from storefronts. Capcom confirmed that any content already purchased will remain usable, so existing owners aren't losing anything they paid for.
Why Capcom is doing this now
Capcom's stated reason is direct: the removals are tied to "the development of additional content and various adjustments for the upcoming title update." The timing lines up with Dark Arisen's October 9 release across PS5, Xbox, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2, the last platform being a first for the Dragon's Dogma series.
Here's the thing: removing paid shortcuts before a major expansion that's explicitly designed to be accessible to new players makes a lot of sense strategically. Capcom described Dark Arisen as "being developed to offer greater accessibility and additional content, with the aim of delivering an experience that satisfies not only fans of the series, but also those playing Dragon's Dogma for the first time." Selling fast travel markers and character editors as separate purchases would be a rough first impression for that audience.
What this means for players picking up the game now
The permanent price reduction on the base game, combined with the MTX removal, reframes Dragon's Dogma 2 as a cleaner package heading into the expansion window. What most players miss is that the items being removed were never locked behind the paywall exclusively. The Portcrystal, Wakestone, and Rift Crystals all exist as in-game rewards. The paid versions were always optional shortcuts, not content blockers.
That context doesn't erase the original controversy, but it does mean the game's core experience is unchanged by this move. The expansion itself was built using player feedback from the original release, which suggests Capcom has been paying attention to what the community wanted more of and less of since launch.
Dark Arisen adds a new storyline and content built around that feedback. For players who bounced off Dragon's Dogma 2 at launch partly because of the MTX optics, the combination of a lower base price and a cleaner storefront is a reasonable reason to look again. Check out the Dragon's Dogma 2 guides to get up to speed before the expansion drops in October.
