This seems to be a topic many people have commented on recently. Hell I won’t even hide the fact I have seen a few YouTube videos. Here is one from DreamcasGuy that brings up some valid points.
There are a few others out there, and not even recently talking about things like micro-transactions and day one DLC and all those things that drive many gamers today pretty much insane. Now I am an older guy, not old, but old enough to remember when games would usually cost about $40 and consoles all coming with a game standard not even as a bundle. So at times I have bumped heads with my younger friends that are willing to pay for skins to change a costume then being insulted because I still hold the attitude that I used to get that shit just for playing the game so I refuse to buy it now with a few exceptions.
I however am young enough to recognize that times change. I own something called RPG Maker MV ( RPG maker series more on that here) that I can use to literally make a game easily graphically equal to pretty much any console prior to the PlayStation 1 generation, and for those more tech savvy people you can use the Unity engine available here to make some pretty impressive stuff. We live in an era where anyone with a decent laptop, the desire to learn, and some time can make a game at home.
Enter the AAA title. These things are now massive undertakings, many times years in the making with thousands of man hours and millions of dollars in cold hard cash to make. At $60 each that is a lot of copies just to break even, with more needed simply to fund the next game. Miro-transactions and DLC help with that, and I have on occasion bought a season pass or some cosmetic things to support a company that makes a game I enjoy. For example this cost me a few bucks because I like Frontier development.
So I bought a paint job for a space ship in Elite Dangerous. However with the recent screw up by EA and Battlefront 2, and I do mean screw up loot boxes are under heavy scrutiny. Even games like Overwatch that really hasn’t faced to many issues with their system since buying them is completely optional is being looked at by many. See Star Wars was designed from the ground up to force people to spend extra money over the long term. That $60 essentially was the buy in to get started playing, with the loot boxes there to entice you to spend more money on the game. Now while I personally feel this is underhanded and wrong, from a business standpoint it makes sense. Every store you go to is built on this concept. From the colors of Walmart to the layout of your local grocery store almost every detail is designed to get you to spend money.
Until now however this design was hidden. Sure we all knew about it, but it was never thrown in our face so blatantly by a large company with a game we paid for. With that design out in the open and under attack by many, that may lead to the death of the $60 game. Prices may go up now in an attempt to mitigate those potential loses. The worst part however to me, is I think the death of the $60 game won’t get rid of the DLC or the micro-transactions dominated gaming world we now live in. We will simply see an increase in prices and thing will stay the same. Best wishes, and may the gaming gods bring you glory.
