Indie RPG Inkbound has pledged to remove its battle pass and all microtransactions by the end of October.

In a statement posted to Steam, developer Shiny Shoe said the decision came after it noted that "industry and player sentiment is trending against the presence of these features" and whilst it had always tried to be "as generous and straightforward as possible", it had resolved to remove in-game monetisation "completely" by 27th October 2023.

Whilst the team says in-game monetisation supported the ongoing development of the game and was "100 per cent optional", content from the existing battle passes – called Levelling Passes here – will now be turned into cosmetic-only optional "supporter packs" DLCs sold on Steam.

"It’s our goal to create games we can invest into and update beyond release. As developers we enjoy expanding our games over time, combining our creativity with community feedback to add new content and fun," the team explained when setting out its rationale, as spotted by our friends at PC Gamer.

"For that reason, we launched Inkbound with two in-game monetisation features to support the ongoing development of the game - the Leveling Pass and the Cosmetic Shop. We tried to make these as generous and straightforward as possible while simultaneously being 100 per cent optional, cosmetic-only, with no impact on gameplay, and with no FOMO.

"However, it's clear that industry and player sentiment is trending against the presence of these features," the statement continues. "For that reason, we are removing in-game monetisation completely. Content from the existing Leveling Passes will be turned into cosmetic-only optional 'supporter pack' DLCs sold on Steam. The rest of the cosmetic content will continue to be available in-game and earned via playing."

Anyone who has used their real-life money to support the game gets the team's thanks and a promise that they'll receive "additional bonus rewards" when the game transitions to its "strong 1.0 update "sometime" next year.

When a suspicious player asked, "[I don't get it] what's the catch" in the comments, another replied: "Nothing. Just devs knowing the reputation trade-off isn't worth alienating players. GG devs, keep up the good work".

"Very good move," agreed another. "I've been vocal in the discord (at least around the start of the [early access] launch) and with friends, and this is a move I highly praise. I will be sure to let friends know about it."

"Inkbound totally gets it. It understands what makes a Roguelike really compelling and exciting," Bertie wrote about Inkbound earlier this year.

"This is the new game from Monster Train developer Shiny Shoe, so perhaps that's no surprise - because if any game can claim to have taken the Slay the Spire formula and made something memorable out of it, something of its own, it's Monster Train. Still, it's not an easy thing to do."