Are Microtransactions Good or Bad for Gaming?

Microtransaction

We’ve all been there. You’ve downloaded a new game to your phone and started playing. You’re having fun a great time working your way through the first few levels but then you’re stopped in your tracks. 

It’s not just a loading screen that you’re presented with. The game is asking you to buy something to unlock extra features. Worse still, you’re told that if you don’t, you’ll have to wait three hours before you can play the next level. 

You want to keep going, so you reluctantly agree. You get to play for a while longer, continuing the fun. But then, BAM, another nag screen. 

It’s a common occurrence in video games of all kinds today. Waiting times, nag screens, ads, and purchasable in-game items are tools that developers use today to keep generating revenue from their content long after it has been released. 

While you may be getting prodded and poked by the game every so often, it was free to download, so it’s arguably a fair trade-off. Thankfully, most games allow you to avoid paying, but you just have to be patient and watch an occasional ad. 

However, the microtransactions that pay for the in-game items have also found their way into games that still require the player to pay upfront, such as FIFA, Call of Duty, and Grand Theft Auto. These purchases are optional but the nag screens that offer them often aren’t. 

Some players argue that this is ruing gaming, but is this a fair framing of the situation?

It’s a Two-Sided Transaction

It’s important to remember that players aren’t just handing over money and receiving nothing in return. Instead, they may be getting a subscription to the latest month of mixed content. Alternatively, they might be buying a character customisation to show off their unique style or additional items to mix up their gameplay. 

It’s also optional. Most free-to-play games that include microtransactions see only a small minority of players hand over any cash. The rest spend nothing or make only a few occasional purchases. 

For the developers, this is ok. They’ve calculated that the small number of players that do pay will spend enough to make their efforts worthwhile. 

Games Are Lasting Longer

Games that are fun can now live for much longer before they’re replaced by a sequel. For example, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was released only a year after GTA III and two years before San Andreas. However, more than nine years have passed since GTA V first went on sale. 

This is because Rockstar Games, GTA’s developer, is able to push out a series of updates to the game as it knows players will be happy to get their digital hands on this latest content. 

It’s not an entirely new phenomenon, though. Popular card games like poker continue to live on today, several hundred years after they were first invented because technology is providing players with new ways to play. 

For example, sites like PokerStars have been allowing players to play in online poker competitions with real money by using innovative payment methods like Skrill and paysafecard. This has helped this centuries-old game to enjoy a resurgence in popularity even as many more gaming options have become available. 

Microtransaction

Supports Creators

It can be hard to remember sometimes, but video games are created by people – people who have bills to pay and stomachs to fill with food. 

Yet, video games are taking longer than ever to create because they’re much bigger, are more detailed, and have better graphics than ever before. This is why the time between releases can be closer to a decade than a year, especially if they offer an open-world experience. 

So while this development takes place, a smaller team of creators can work on creating the additional in-game content that generates revenue through microtransactions. 

Naturally, some of this is saved as profit and distributed to shareholders, but much of it is used to fund the development of future releases. 

The Verdict

We can, therefore, take a more nuanced position. By examining microtransactions in this way, it is clear that it is not just a one-sided deal designed to milk gamers for every last drop. 

Instead, they are a compromise. They allow players to continue to enjoy the games they love for longer while waiting for a sequel that will also take much longer and cost much more to develop. 

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