LightGunblade is the first new alternate avatar in Heroes of Newerth’s 8-bit promotion, and the proceeds are contributing to the game’s prize pool at DreamHack this summer.
Based on arcade light-gun games, the LightGunblade variant of Gunblade wields a pair of light guns and features pixelated faces that change dynamically over the course of a match. The first in a series of eight new avatars, LightGunblade is available now for 700 gold (just under $17), with the price rising to 900 gold (just over $21) after a week.
Purchasing the new avatars will also earn players bonus content. Purchase of the first two avatars nets players a ward, the first four a courier, the first six a taunt, and all eight gets players an announcer pack. A quarter of all proceeds from the 8-bit promotion are going to the game's prize pool for its tournament at DreamHack Summer 2015, which runs June 13-16.
OurTake
I personally fell off the MOBA
bandwagon not long after TI3, but even while I was into them I had a problem with a lot
of the genre’s pricing models. Though $17 is considerably cheaper than something like the
comparable Arcana items from Dota 2, players who buy everything will be
spending in the $150 range for new skins if the pricing stays the same.
It feels like S2 Games should be offering more in terms of additional rewards, because four items doesn’t seem terribly impressive when only a quarter of the profit is being turned over to the prize pool – or when considering Valve doles out more gifts and longevity via the Compendium for far less money. Not everyone has Valve's financial security to work with though, and this is far from the worst option I've seen paraded about by a MOBA.