During a preview event for Far Cry 5 on PC, I stumbled upon a container which, when opened, revealed a couple stacks of silver bars. Had I found a Far Cry 5 loot box? No. Just a box that contained loot.
A Ubisoft representative confirmed that Far Cry 5 will not have loot boxes or any chance systems involving microtransactions. It will have a season pass, but as one of the first so-called triple-A launches of 2018, you might take this as a sign that last fall's loot box trend won't carry on with every publisher and big release.
Then again, Far Cry 5 will have microtransactions for cosmetic items and time savers. The store wasn't online during my demo, so I couldn't get a look at pricing or exactly what's inside, but gun skins, vehicle skins, and outfits for your character are all definitely customizable aspects. And you'll be able to get some (maybe all) cosmetic items from a currency you can find in game: silver bars.
Here's a prompt I received after clearing my first outpost of the demo:
So Silver Bars are purchasable, though I don't know what they cost, or what they're worth in Far Cry 5's store. While they're hidden at every outpost, there's still the chance that in-game silver bars are a finite resource. Previous Far Cry games eventually added the option to reset outposts, so it's possible that the feature will return and allow you to farm outposts for silver bars, but we don't know for sure yet. To get every cosmetic item you might need fork over some cash, but I appreciate that the system, from what we can tell, doesn't feel outright exploitative.
But I've been thinking: what is a lake if not a loot box for trout? Ubisoft, I'm starting a petition to remove all lakes from Far Cry 5. Please comply.
VIDEO: 30 minutes of Far Cry 5 singleplayer running on PC, also available on YouTube.