No, the yellow hearts/stats with the lock symbol indicate that they can't be opened until Act Three. Nothing in the CK game is, or ever will be, pay-gated :)
Viewing post in Corrupted Kingdoms (NSFW 18+) comments
Sorry to ask Mr. Arcadean... What is pay-gated meant? (Again, sorry. English isn't my native...)
Do you mean, when this game is entirely completed in the future, we would have to spend money or pay for the full version? Or do we need to pay for the completed version in the future? (Sorry for asking too many questions.)
It's okay, I'm happy to answer any questions people may have :)
"Pay-gated" means that you have to pay to get access to something. My game has ZERO pay-gated content, and everything within the game will always be completely free to everyone.
When the game is finished, it will be released to everyone completely free of charge.