The “Tekken Shop” has officially been announced for Tekken 8, and it’ll be coming to the game in an upcoming update. While this means that there will be further monetization added to the game, the game’s Chief Producer explains why they feel the need to add it, and what they hope it’ll accomplish in the long run.

Speaking during the Tekken Talk-Live stream, Chief Producer Yasuda Esports broke down the features of the Tekken 8 Shop, showing off some of the customization items in it, confirming that it’ll feature both free and paid (with Tekken coins) content and that it’ll be updated one to two times a month. Of course, with news of a shop coming to Tekken 8 so soon after its launch, many in the community have already begun to rally up against it. Though Ysuda Esports hears those complaints, he does go on to explain why they’re adding the shop, hoping that it’ll continue to allow them to improve the game for years to come.

“So, we hear that some people have some kind of allergic reaction when they hear “shop,” but it’s more trying to update the game and keep it fresh with new customization items. As you’ve seen what we did with Tekken 7, we tried to refresh the game and to provide a better experience overall, rather than just trying to make money off of these individual items. The thinking is the same for Tekken 8 in that we are trying to make it a better game, and this is one of the ways we plan to do that.”

It does make sense that the team would look for ways to add more revenue, as while they do have a season pass for the game, along with the title selling over two million its first month, in between character releases and such, there will be plenty of updates. Those updates come free for the users, though certainly at the studio’s own expense.

We may not like the idea of content locked behind a paid wall, especially customization, but it’s what has allowed these studios to continue supporting their games for as long as they have. Let’s just hope that eventually, those paid items will have another way of earning them besides spending on premium currency.

Tekken 8 is now available worldwide on the PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC. You can read our review of the game here to see if it’s worth the purchase.