The Culling is coming back, but with possibly the most punishing monetisation model ever

By Sean Carey,

The battle royale title, The Culling, is once again returning to Xbox One, this time with several changes, including better graphics, better AI and possibly one of the most punishing monetisation models ever seen.

The Culling: Origins will cost $5.99, however, if you previously purchased the game, or downloaded it when it was free-to-play, you won't have to pay. Fair enough. The real kicker is that players can only play an online match once per day before having to stump up more cash. Only one free match can be played within a 24-hour period. If you win, you'll get an Online Match Token that allows you to play the game (that you've already paid money for) for a second time. If you don't, hard luck — you'll have to fork out for a pack of Online Match Tokens.

These tokens come in a range of pack sizes from three tokens costing $0.99 to 20 tokens costing $4.99. If that doesn't tickle your fancy, you can always purchase a 7-day pass for a couple of bucks or a monthly pass for $5.99 for unlimited play. As of yet, no other regional pricing has been announced.

Developer Xaviant has had a troubled past with its two games, The Culling and The Culling 2. Both games ended up being culled for various reasons. The original, released back in 2017, was a decent battle royale, but it didn't quite match the lofty heights that PUBG reached. After just two months of the game being released, Xaviant announced that they would no longer be supporting The Culling and all development on the title had stopped. Xaviant then announced The Culling 2 seven months later. The sequel was pulled after just over a week, removed from the Microsoft Store and the servers closed.

Xaviant then announced that The Culling was going free-to-play in November 2018. The game's servers were online for six months before eventually shutting last year.

The Culling: Origins, as it's officially now known, is due to launch tomorrow, May 14th. We haven't picked up a new achievement list yet, so it could be that The Culling achievement list might be obtainable once again, although we can't confirm if this will indeed be the case.

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Written by Sean Carey

Avid Xbox and achievement fan, Sean has committed to playing the best RPGs, racing games, and first-person shooters Xbox Game Pass and his precious free time will allow. Prior to joining TrueAchievements, Sean gained a degree in journalism from Solent University.