So this is a AA Studio that has been working on this game for a few years. They have some investments from outside companies (including tencent) so do with that what you will.

There IS a micro transaction store, with a bunch of cosmetic only items. I haven’t really glanced at these yet and we won’t know them all til release but I’m happy with the in-game drip currently.

I really enjoy the game and have been playing the early access for years. They aren’t selling quality of life like stash and space etc. like Path of Exile does. They also seem like a small but dedicated group of people who have always wanted to make this kind of game and have implemented/will implement many awesome ideas (great crafting, crazily customizeable skills, cool class designs).

They are a smaller studio so despite their prep, I would expect server failures on release day. They DO have an offline mode, but not for the current ‘Cycle’ (their seasons ala Diablo, PoE) so that will be playable on release even if servers are a mess and will have all cycle content as it releases (for now).

Really big fan of this game. If you want to give money to a studio for an ARPG, I would definitely recommend this one, or Grim Dawn.