A few more pieces of the puzzle: (Gaming)

by cheapLEY , Saturday, June 18, 2016, 02:38 (3084 days ago) @ Morpheus

I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately, along with a few other things.

I'm sort of split on this issue. It all depends on how it's handled. I'm okay with microtransactions, so long as I can buy exactly the item I want for a set price. If there's RNG involved, I'm out. I'm not going to gamble my money away. More and more, it's starting to feel like most multiplayer games only exist to get their players to buy in to the slot machine.

Games are really expensive now, though, and the market is more crowded than ever before. So I understand why publishers and developers feel the need to do it. We're at a weird spot where games are actually relatively cheap, but they still feel expensive. And they are, I guess--$60 is a lot of cash. But with development costs skyrocketing and the price of games not moving, it's no surprise we see devs go the microtransaction route to make money before their games are forgotten for the next one in line. I do often wonder what the split is for microtransactions, though? How much of that money goes to the devs, and how much goes to the publisher? I think it makes a difference if that money is helping a studio stay afloat between projects or something or if it's just lining the pockets of a suit.

I also have to wonder how episodic games factor into the equation. I'm not caught up at all, but I love the way the new Hitman game is going. I've only got the first two chapters, but being episodic has done absolute wonders for that game. We're getting new levels at a good pace, with plenty of content packed into each one to keep us occupied for the month between releases. I really wonder how front-loaded the development of those levels was, because I could see something similar working for Destiny if they fixed their production pipeline and could actually put stuff out at a good pace. Imagine getting something like the equivalent of one planet's worth of content every other month or something along those lines. I guess that's a different discussion, but I do wonder how much keeping an active influx of cash every month for the new Hitman level has affected the devs. Is that a good situation for them, or would it have been better to just finish the game and get full price up front?

I also have to wonder if rising development costs means we'll see the return of the mid-tier game. Stuff like the new Ratchet and Clank at $40. I'd love to see that become a trend. Not everything needs to be The Witcher 3.

In the end, I think microtransactions are at least partly just a symptom of a larger problem in the industry, in that developers (both as a studio organization and individually) seemingly have little job security. It's just part of that equation between development costs, keeping a studio open, a crowded market, etc.

I think it's only a matter of time before the industry sees pretty major reform, and who knows what things will look like then. Until then, the only way to combat microtransactions is to not buy them. They're certainly not going away anytime soon, but that doesn't mean you have to be party to them.