The global launch of My Hero Academia's mobile title The Strongest Hero has been mired in controversy. The global version of the game features incredibly high stamina costs, low stamina pools and droughts of premium currency alongside worse character pull rates. Developer Xin Yuang Studio was aware of the backlash from players and announced a patch that would address both the stamina and premium currency issues. That patch recently released and has done very little to fix the title's key problems.
The patch increased the amount of stamina obtained from several sources in the game, doubling the amount gained from friends, Hero Supply and the Dorm. This is a rather lackluster solution. There is already a limit on the amount of stamina that can be obtained each day from each of these sources, and Hero Supply will cost a player Hero Coins (the game's premium currency) outside of set time frames. On top of this, the developers decided to double the cost of the Hero Supply's stamina. This mediocre increase does little to help the audience actually play the game more. It still runs out after only a handful of quests.
The other problem that the new update attempted to address is the very limited supply of Hero Coins. The new update adds an extra 30 Hero Coins to daily missions, bringing the total gain to 80. To put this into perspective, players would need to summon 100 times in order to guarantee a new character from the pity system. This would cost a grand total of 25,000 Coins to summon them. On top of this, in order to complete a single character and take them to SSS+ rank, a further 12 copies are required, and with the very low summon rates, each could very possibly require another 25,000 Coins. In addition, each new character has a separate banner used to unlock their exclusive Hero Cards, which again require 25,000 Coins for a guaranteed drop.
It is abundantly clear why even the game's most hardcore fans are still up in arms. This new patch has paid lip service to the idea of creating a better experience for players but has done almost nothing to fix some the most blatant issues. Those who are willing to spend thousands of dollars will be able to have a chance to max out their favorite characters. Those who won't or can't are out of luck. Players who are willing to spend will be able to continue to buy stamina to carry on playing. Those who won't or can't have to stop even if they don't want to.
Many players feel insulted by the half-hearted response from Xin Yuang. For example, the game recently began a promotion to obtain a total of ten Event Recruit Tickets by logging in for a week. These tickets are valuable resources and can be used towards the 100 summons needed to guarantee a new character. Xin Yuang opted to give these tickets away directly after All Might, the best character in the game, disappeared from the summons screen, preventing players from using them on the banner deliberately. The developer is simply mishandling its post-launch support, so many players have seemingly quit the game already.
This says nothing of the glitches and other problems that are currently plaguing the experience. One particularly egregious bug causes everything in the arena (including enemies) to be shrouded in darkness, making it impossible for players to see where their foe is or to effectively dodge their attacks. Additionally, the global version still boasts reduced pity rates over other versions, making it the hardest edition to obtain new characters on for no discernable reason.
The game's subreddit is currently full of incredulous fans, shocked at the state of the game and the developer's lackluster response. Other anime gacha games such as Bleach: Brave Souls have managed to retain a player base for years and may appear more attractive to players. If My Hero Academia: The Strongest Hero previously risked alienating its player base, its biggest problem now will be retaining the few that remain after this ineffectual response.
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