Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin’s Confusing Pricing Scheme Revealed

At first, Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin just seemed to be an upgraded, definitive edition of Dark Souls 2 for current-gen consoles and a free update to PC. That has changed: there will now be two different versions of Dark Souls 2 for PC, the already released DX9 version, and a next-gen quality DX11 version.

Confused?

The DX11 version is more than just a simple graphics upgrade.

It supports two more players in multiplayer (rounding the count up to six players total at any given time) and reassigns spawns and scripting to enemies.

So in many ways, the game has been rebalanced and tweaked to address some of the complaints players had about it.

This means that DX9 players are, as strange as it sounds, playing a fundamentally different game than DX11 players will be playing.

It’s a bit like one player playing a game with mods, while the other player is just using the base game. In theory, you could try to get them to connect without using the same version, but it wouldn’t be worth the effort. It is easier to separate the two versions.

Now, some games like Saints Row 4 would include both its DX9 and DX11 versions together as one product, but as Resident Evil 5 has shown us, some developers aren’t that forward thinking.

“Okay, so there are two versions of Dark Souls 2. What’s complicated about that?” you ask. Well, the two versions aren’t bundled together. Instead, Namco Bandai thought it would be a good idea to charge fans even more money to buy the new versions of the game, even if you bought all the DLC and the game at launch.

• If you have all the currently available content for Dark Souls 2 DX9, it will cost you $12 USD to get the updated DX11 version.
• If you only own part of the DLC releases or just the base game, it will cost you $20 USD to get the updated DX11 version.
• If you haven’t bought Dark Souls 2 at all, Dark Souls 2: Scholar of the First Sin will cost you $40 USD for the DX9 version and $50 for the DX11 version.

While hardcore Souls fans have probably already pre-ordered the DX11 version, we wonder how many players will wait until the price declines during a Steam Sale before acquiring the new game. The $12 price tag required for the most loyal fans in particular still feels steep and a tad bit unnecessary, given a number of players will have spent close to a hundred dollars on the game between the DLC and original release.

In addition to this announcement, the hardware requirements for the DX11 version have been released.

Minimum System Requirements:

• OS: Windows 7 SP1 64bit / Windows 8.1 64bit
• CPU: Intel Core i3 2100 3.1GHz / AMD A8 3870 3.6GHz
• Memory: 4GB RAM
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 / ATI Radeon HD 6870
• DirectX: 11
• Network: Broadband Internet Connection
• Hard Drive: 23GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX11 sound device
• Controller support: Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for Windows (or equivalent) recommended

Recommended Specifications:

• OS: Windows 7 SP1 64bit / Windows 8.1 64bit
• CPU: Intel Core i7 2600 3.4GHz / AMD FX 8150 3.6GHz or better
• Memory: 8GB RAM or better
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 (700 series) or better / ATI Radeon HD 7850 (7000 series) or better
• DirectX: 11
• Network: Broadband Internet Connection
• Hard Drive: 23GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX11 sound device
• Controller support: Microsoft Xbox 360 Controller for Windows (or equivalent) recommended

How do you feel about how Namco Bandai is re-releasing Dark Souls 2: Scholar of First Sin on PC? Will you be making the next-gen jump, or are you happy with the current game? Let us know in the comments below!

Image Credit: Meinstation