The Microtransaction Era | Video Games

Seems like AAA titles can't hit the public these days without sneaking in a cheeky microtransaction or two, can they?

Considered to be the most frustrating aspect of any game, the microtransaction trend has stormed the world and become more visible in recent years. But that's not to say they haven't been around in earlier years though, because annoyingly, the microtransaction has been around for a lot longer than we'd probably like to know.

Stemming from a mix of appealing bolt-ons in games such as World of Warcraft or RuneScape, or any other online game for that matter, microtransactions used to be a whole lot more discreet, and rather than promoting a 'play to win' deal, developers used to offer simple extras for simple money.

Say you had just acquired a nice crossbow from a nearby vendor. The developer noticed you liked it and suddenly snapped to your brain with a "Hey, I bet you'd like it even more if it had... I don't know... flames on it?"

"There's no difference in stats, but it looks cool. Say, how about you buy it for a few extra quid? It'll definitely draw a crowd!"

That's how it all started. And back then it made little difference if you made the purchase or not. You were still an average player that had the same chances of winning as anybody else. But by simply investing in a pretty enchantment or unique charm that made you stand out a little more from the crowd, you felt a certain level of achievement that made you feel special in your own way.

Times have changed a lot since then, of course. And somewhere along the way, developers started to look past the simplicity of microtransactions and looked more towards the gold mine encased deep within them.

Over the years, these transactions transformed from little things like giving your character a sparkly platinum aura that made no difference to stats whatsoever to beefy upgrades that were pivotal to succeeding against an opponent.

These days it makes little difference if you're the best player on the board and hold over five hundred hours of gameplay beneath your belt, because if a twelve-year-old kid boots up the game for the first time and slyly swipes their dad's credit card, chances are they'll be equally as matched as you anyway.

It's a shame that video games require little skill these days. And that by pouring every penny into microtransactions we are able to remove the challenge from the experience and just get a hold of the end-game with no real effort or quality hours clocked on them at all.

Everywhere we look these days a transaction or two (... or eighty-million) are featured in diamond white lights on most menu screens of our favourite games. Screaming our names and urging us to poke our heads around their mysterious corners, they reel us in with essential upgrades and loot boxes to supposedly die for.

A golden unicorn for a mount as opposed to a non-standard black pony. A crystal cutthroat scythe as opposed to a dirty bronze sword. A special bonus level. A new playable character. A gun, a chest, a vehicle, a loadout—it's all there, itching for our bank details.

Sadly, most developers are learning to cash in on the trend lately, and whether an indie platformer or a massive blockbuster hit, most of them can't help but plead for those extra few pennies of ours when juicing us for all we're worth.

But we do we fall for it. Why do we feel the minor temptation to splash out on digital goods when really they hold no physical value whatsoever? What is it that makes us want to make the regrettable upgrade and hand over our hard-earned monies to rubbing hands and dirty smiles?

I think it's fair to say, and more than likely scientifically proven, that 'being the better player' is something we all want. We all want that little bit of extra attention when dropping into a new session with others.

Having a certain team on the pitch or deck on the board; there's something about that that makes us feel untouchable and worthy of competing against.

Unfortunately, skill has very little to do with gaming these days, and to be honest, I'd say it's more of a vanity parade and that who holds the most cash is likely going to be the 'better player' overall. Sad, but true.

We live in a vain world where the likes of Instagram models overpower the smaller types of content creators or artists. And it seems the gaming universe has followed in those footsteps down to a tee, where the profit is at the pinnacle of development and the actual gameplay comes closer to second place.

But before I get a little far ahead of myself and turn this into a rant about models or undeserving celebrities, I'll bring it back to microtransactions.

As creators continue along a path of greed and lose sight of what originally made video games fun, we can only choose to fight with ourselves on whether or not a microtransaction is really 'worth it' when experiencing our next BIG adventure.

No doubt developers will continue to extort us for everything in our wallets, but by taking the moment to side against their pretty bolt-ons, we can push back the trend and dissolve it into nothing more than a bad memory amongst the community.

Perhaps we'll be able to play again as equals someday. They'll be no sketchy modded controllers or flashy loot boxes that make one player more important than the other. They'll just be a gaming community playing for the love of the art and not for the vanity contest.

Microtransactions will die, and the players will return to the dark ages, where being half decent at a game takes persistence and dedication rather than £6.99 from a credit card transaction.

I don't know about you, but that sounds pretty good to me.

So do yourself a favour. Put away your wallet, pick up a controller, and just play the damn game without all the bullshit. Because honestly, no trend can last forever.

A video game should be a journey for the players, not a cash cow for the developers.

- J Tury

I'LL BE YOUR MICROTRANSACTION, BABY

Thanks for taking the time to read my latest article!

If you enjoyed the read then please do consider supporting me on Patreon at www.patreon.com/Tury

I don't expect much from writing, but I do appreciate every little penny that helps towards it. So thank you for your support and contribution.

For a further look into my works, please visit www.jtury.uk

If you have any ideas for articles or would like to hire me, please email [email protected]

Thanks, guys.

- J Tury