Following Dark and Darker‘s surprise early access launch on Monday, August 7, Ironmace has confirmed that the RPG game will include an in-game store and that it is a “realistic” caveat of running a live service game. If you’re a Dark and Darker player, that’s either news you didn’t want to hear or really wanted to hear.

After a surprise August 7 early access launch on new distributor Chaf Games, Ironmace has confirmed on its Discord that, at launch, the game will include an online store.

CEO Terrance Park writes “we want to address the elephant in the room and talk about the addition of the in-game shop. Our assumption when we started this company was that you could still build a lucrative business while being true to your fans. The in-game shop is our attempt at being realistic with the business of running an online game but trying to find a way to do it without resorting to random loot boxes and FOMO items.

“We want to offer players a fair way to support us while enjoying the game,” he continues. “Please let us know how you think we’re doing on this front. In addition to the in-game shop we’ve added a founder’s edition/add-on pack to show our appreciation to the loyal fans who’ve stuck with us through this crazy journey available through the platform you purchase the game [sic].”