Why Silent Hill: Ascension’s Community Choice Model Hurts More Than Its Fan Reception

Silent Hill: Ascension has been the center of controversy in the last few days, largely as a result of its monetization practices. Not only were fans quickly disappointed in the advertisement for a Silent Hill “Founder’s Pack” retailing at $19.99, but some of its cosmetic items, including a rainbow sticker with the words “It’s Trauma!”, felt like a clear dissonance from the quality of Silent Hill‘s earlier iconic entries. Beyond its microtransactions, however, there’s a larger problem in the game’s community choice model; Ascension‘s inherent voting and broadcast system has its story progress only through what is most voted for, leaving secondary options left out from the experience.