Microtransactions Are Getting Out Of Hand | Spot On

Players are accusing Diablo 4 of implementing "malicious design" into its battle pass and microtransactions. Lucy and Tam break down what is happening, the history of the practice, and how these problems can be fixed.
In theory, live service games seem like a win-win for developers and consumers: Developers get to focus on supporting one title, while players are offered a constant stream of new content for their favorite games. In practice, however, things are playing out a bit differently.
With the rise of games as a service comes the rise of microtransactions, small in-game purchases that offer players additional content, cosmetics, and more. The problem is, these charges quickly add up, luring players into shelving out large amounts of money in small increments. Though some companies are more predatory in their tactics than others, we find ourselves growing frustrated by all it--and increasingly wary of what the future holds.
Spot On is a weekly news show airing Fridays in which GameSpot's managing editor Tamoor Hussain and senior producer Lucy James talk about the latest news in games. Given the highly dynamic and never-ending news cycle of the massive video game industry, there's always something to talk about but, unlike most other news shows, Spot On will dive deep into a single topic as opposed to recapping all the news. Spot On airs each Friday. #gaming #Diablo4 #gamespot

[@AllThingsInfamous1]

They’ve been getting out of hand for a while.

[@PANCHO15108]

Agreed man they been wildin for years. I have been burnt so as soon as I hear free to play the game goes from art to product.

[@UncleJunior1999]

And the worst part is people buy it and don't even care.

[@randomvariety7874]

Why is it taking so long to regulate this? I mean we made games ratings a thing to protect kids but nothing on this? There must be strong lobbying to allow this. If this keeps up I may not be able to be a gamer anymore. These casino games are just not what I grew up with.

[@listofromantics]

Why is this taking so long to regulate? 1) A LOT of the politicians in power are "old," not tech savvy, not gamers; they don't understand. 2) A LOT of politicians are paid / "lobbied" by the companies making 10's of billions of dollars annually on predatory MTX to either A) not educate themselves on the topic / stay ignorant; and or B) look the other way. 3) A LOT of politicians are complicit / make a LOT of money keeping things exactly how they are / are incredibly "Pro-Corpo" and anti-regulation. Take your pick. It's a mix of all 3.

[@jayk5507]

I honestly don't want government putting their hands into anything else, especially gaming. Microtransactions don't bother me at all. I buy what I want and don't spend money on anything else. Every transaction is a choice.

[@CrownxMe7]

Because it’s America.. tons of things aren’t regulated when it comes to money. Nobody is going to get in the way of companies money. Companies banned unions and took over in the 1980s

[@samuelbahij4878]

Microtransactions have *been* out of hand for some time now, to the point where the term is outdated and in need of replacement. There's nothing "micro" about $25 for a skin or $100 gacha packs.

[@sepho3070]

seriously i want to know whats micro about DOAs packs... holy smokes.

[@Drstrange3000]

Once people started defending cosmetics and battle passes, I figured we would arrive at this point sooner or later. I still remember when mobile games shifted from paid to freemium. We used to get some good mobile games but people justified free games because they didn't want to pay $2-$13 for a quality game on the scale of a handheld games of that time, which were 3-4x more expensive. Since these games are aimed mostly towards children and people who don't fully understand gaming history are easily misled I feel.

[@focabox5594]

Exactly

[@iPlayiOS]

Nailed it

[@schadenfreude6274]

My Uncle was one of those who defended Cosmetics and Battle Passes. He recently committed suicide. He's not a very smart man. :)

[@Drstrange3000]

@@schadenfreude6274 I'm really sorry about your uncle.

[@joaopaulopeluzio4195]

They mostly do stay on cosmetics today, if the item/pass does not give any unfair advantage to those who buy it, do not affect gameplay for those who do no have it, do not lock something lorewise or do not activate itself like Diablo IV's, i really do not see a problem, it is a comensalistic relationship for those who opt not to buy it

[@hmmjedi]

I remember the old days when there was no such thing as Microtransactions all you had was DLC's... Okay I feel old now...

[@pabloveraotero4199]

And the DLC could easily count as a New game. Not just 1 or 2 missions

[@mh4841]

Remember when DLCs were free.

[@Nihlux]

and I remember the days before DLC, where games just released what was usually a substantial and complete update to the game, called an expansion. Those were truly the days.

[@DuctTapeJake]

'Downloadable' Content? I remember when Expansion Packs were extra discs you had to buy from the store.

[@jimmyeriksson8358]

​​@@DuctTapeJakeyeah and they were 40-80 percent of the full game as extra playable content. Not new green variant pants

[@rabidgiant4102]

Blizzard did this intentionally, 100%. Only “fixed” it cause they got called out.

[@sepho3070]

if it wasnt, id like them to explain to everyone why it was done this way. explanation incoming in 3, 2, 1 ...................................................................................................................................................................

[@dexrow]

I am actually surprised I had the option to not have it just used automatically. Its still poor design to be able to accidently use an item like that, but I dont think at any other time the flow will function this way. It will be a purchase of the pass and its automatically activated, so I could easily see how this was over looked since its a one off (And any streamer saying they dont have enough time in 3 months to complete the battle pass probably never will have enough time to complete it, felt more like an excuse to be mad then a real issue).

[@FidelisRaven]

@@dexrow Funny how these "mistakes" always benefit the company.

[@dexrow]

@@FidelisRaven How does this benefit the company? You already paid for the item, they have your money, and its unlikely that you are going to be buying another pass if you are not using the first season's.

[@wazopaio]

I am so utterly happy that microtransactions are being demonized lately. They've become so unbelievably hostile.

[@naryanr]

They're not “getting” out of hand. They've been f***ing _gross_ for at least 5 years now.

[@focabox5594]

"microtransactions are a necessary evil" What?? Wasn't that supposed to be the game prices increase to 70 dollars? You can't fall for that. Yeah, games are expensive to develop, but never in history there were so many people playing games, so the potential profit is way higher to the point the game price increase shouldn't be a thing at all, let alone microtransactions, guys! Lots of games without MT had lots of profits. Let's stop this mantra because the companies are loving people like you repeating stuff like that 😢

[@walksinthedarkness]

Publishers and their shareholders no longer want lots of money, they want all of the money. Making massive profits year on year is now the norm and the people at the top are paid lots of money to reduce costs. They don't add value, they just reduce costs (mostly in the form of cutting staff.)

[@joaopaulopeluzio4195]

The game price rise makes sense in terms of inflation correction. It is actually surprising games have a standard price and stay a long time without changes over it, likewise, this is good for indies, because the producers of those games can increase their prices based on the new standard, which spur them to make more games and innovate the market, it is also good for devs trying to dissociate from their former studios and create their own, it increases the cost of opportunity of staying on a studio they do not fell comfortable being anymore and decreases the cost of opportunity of them pursuing their own goals in the industry

[@jeveritt8398]

Also ignoring that diablo 4 is blizzards biggest launch ever. The company that made overwatch and wow so it's sales numbers are insane. It's easily made back it's production costs and much much more

[@OisCreg]

Just Gamespot's corporate cop out. Can't have too high hopes with this platform

[@jovialnobody]

@@joaopaulopeluzio4195 Except that most indie games don't sell for the $70 price tag, even AA games don't go for it, A Plague Tale: Requiem for example still goes for $60 on PS5 and even less on digital markets. The price increase and MXS are almost exclusively a symptom of AAA studios' endless greed when left unchecked and unchallenged.

[@AxeGaijin]

Microtransactions aren't *getting* out of hand, we've passed that line YEARS ago.

[@Vipus2501]

These companies literally have psychology departments with dozens of people focused solely on profiling players and developing specific strategies on how to manipulate them into spending way more than they normally would. If things continue like this in a decade or so almost every game is gonna be a freaking gacha.

[@tenshi.kurama]

Its not about what players really want its about exploiting us mentally to squeeze every last cent from us.

[@twofarg0ne763]

That's why we need to support games like Baldur's Gate 3.

[@casuallybad]

Everytime I hear> "it's a necessary evil", it reminds me of Lord Farquaad> "Some of you may die but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make." - round of applause ensues. It's NOT a necessary evil. It's an evil. That's it.

[@MistrFlux]

The fact that GTA$ online and Rockstar Games still manages fly under the radar when we have this conversation boggles my mind. Its basically unplayable if you don’t pay extra or just grind as a second full time job.

[@ShaunLevett]

Also not sure if this is a console bug, but on Overwatch console every single day you open the game the shop says ‘NEW’, even though it only updates once a week. And me being OCD I can’t handle it and have to go through every shop page to get rid of it. As this is Blizzard it’s probably entirely intentional. ‘Dark patterns’ as they are called in UI design.

[@MegaJackolope]

SF6 just did what Tamoor was talking about at 7:30 . Rashid, the first DLC character of 4 announced costs more than the first bundle of currency available. However the second highest bundle isn't enough for two characters, nor is the third bundle enough for three characters. The fourth bundle actually costs more than just buying the whole pass at once. So much for just buying one character for $6. I have to fund Capcoms dev team for the next year when Akuma isnt going to be out till late next year. I feel fleeced in a purchase I was already happy with.

[@wakaneut]

Unfortunately, their strategy worked well, 'cuz many people are buying it. They were not punished for that, instead customers reward them for it. No, backlash (for a week or two, mostly) isn't punishing. Business only response to money.

[@GMoneyChuck89]

Which is another reason why Remnant 2 is such a breath of fresh air.

[@zavi3rz]

Agreed, Remnant 2 is such a good game

[@quietoficial]

In my opinion microtransactions should only be in free to play games, since it's the only way for developers to earn money from their job. I used to play league of legends a long time ago and just bought something after months of gaming because I liked the game. And now I have to pay R$350 (I'm from Brazil, and here this ammount is like 1/4 of minimum wage) in a game and still can't have the full game... The worst part is that in most cases these "extra content" is already in the game, but blocked by paying. I remember the PS2 era when we had to finish the game and beat some challenges to unlock EVERYTHING, like skins, weapons, characters and even new story missions.

[@StormtrooperV2]

You guys have my utmost respect for bringing to the forefront this bs as a major games media company. Things have gotten ridiculously out of hand lately with this live service bs and I'm glad you guys agree publishers are ruining games making them based around the shops. Thanks for not being scared to tackle these topics!

[@Ray-ko1po]

I like that you said publishers and not devs. Because the devs just make the game. The other sources are the ones that put their sticky hands in and tell them to put the things in the game

[@FunBunChuck]

Microtransactions are getting out of hand? Correction: Microtransactions ARE out of hand. They have BEEN out of hand (control) since they were first introduced. Games as a service is also OUT OF HAND. I'm sticking to OLD school gaming from now on.

[@jeffreysendall3971]

Im skipping 90% of modern games for this very reason. Any sort of microtransaction content in a game and im out

[@MistrFlux]

Anyone up for some pong?

[@FunBunChuck]

@@MistrFlux Streets of Rage on Sega Genesis! That game was hella fun! 😁

[@antonm_]

"Dark Pattern" is the technical term. I wouldn't have thought AAA games would stoop that low. It's very surprising that a very high profile game would resort to such underhanded tactics.

[@adamofblastworks1517]

A good portion of game design is figuring out how to manipulate players in one way or another. Incentivize some actions, the reverse for others, guiding players along while trying to hide that influence, activate dopamine releases, direct how players feel about things with music and everything else, etc. That and video games involve a LOT of interactions, and thus plenty of places to make someone trip up, especially with frequently used interactions. Now that I think about it, I think the video game industry is the most logical to expect to see this so much from. What else involves their audience so intrinsically and manipulating them so much? Advertising can't make as deep of a connection to potential customers. Politics at least has some checks in place to not let voters accidentally choose a name other than who they wanted to pick (fooling the voters about who will actually do what, and what some bills will actually do or enable is a different discussion). A lot of software for professional use has enough other competition that they don't try this as often (they still do though), and people aren't anywhere near as emotionally attached to their professional software as they are to what they want to play, so they'd be more likely to just go somewhere else.

[@antonm_]

You're right, the number of interactions in games present the most opportunity. Also that emotional attachment we have with games is the hook, and since it is such a personal feeling, that's why the effect of these dark patterns are more visceral. It feels like a betrayal rather than some magic trick/sleight of hand.

[@claytonhelme1735]

Love this segment! Please keep em coming! 😁

[@cynderkiryah1215]

Think we are a little late to be addressing this as getting out of hand has been out of hand for years.

[@jiitrii6687]

Lol this video is like 8 years late. Also, how can you say or believe this when you literally didn’t care on giantbomb and vouch for games like Diablo 4? Makes y’all look very phony. One day you’re apathetic and the next you’re like kind of preaching but kind of not because you’re sponsored by those same corporations, get review codes, have “friends” that work there, etc. Very disingenuous if you ask me.

[@Mysticbladegod]

Part of the reason why I'm a retro gamer. Got tired of being nickel and dimed. 7th & 6th gen are the sweet spot for me.

[@shrineguard2778]

Off the top of my head, the Diablo 4 button placing looks a lot like the 'Dark Pattern' design elements that Amazon just got sued for. In the case of Amazon, older generations would be more vulnerable to getting deceived by it. Here, it got gamers who are used to complex UI & design elements in games. Go figure, this is what we're going to have to put up with if we want free stuff I guess.

[@adamofblastworks1517]

If it wasn't free entry, do you think they would actually stop?

[@BrattyNerdGirl]

GETTING?! They’ve BEEN out of hand for at least half a decade!

[@joel5956]

The "Free to Play" tag being meaningless is partially the fault of publishers, but storefronts are due blame as well. There just isn't any motivation for any storefront to enforce transparency since they get a cut (or the whole thing, in the case of 1st party relationships).

[@capitandelespacio]

These two magnificent human beings are so dry and calm while tearing up the subject at hand, it warms my heart.

[@joshuabagwell6695]

This is why I stopped playing gotcha and live service games. They gotta learn

[@Necrilem]

They just aren't "micro"transactions anymore at this point. They are "macro"transactions

[@pvsweetypie]

Anytime microtransactions are discussed by games media or other content creators the blame ALWAYS is placed 100% on "greedy companies" and 0% on "innocent naive gamers". Its the safe route to not rile up your audience but its also not truthful. YES, companies want your money. All of it. Consumers need to have some personal responsibility and vote with their wallet. Then microtransactions, in time, lessen or even go away. If you spend $100s per month or more on microtransactions you are not a victim, you are the problem.

[@focabox5594]

The problem is lots of gamers don't do it, so all gamers suffer in the end. Microtransactions are studied and added to games based on psychology, so it's not so easy for lots of people to not fall for them. If companies stopped doing it, the problem would go away

[@Vipus2501]

Billion dollar videogame companies develop games around scientific proven psychological techniques that have been refined by the gambling industry for decades to be as profitable as possible in manipulating the user, but the real culprits are the vulnerable people that fall to them, a lot of them being minors and/or people with addictive personality who may spend even more than they can afford? Ok.

[@Captain.Mystic]

Voting with your wallet is a dumb phrase because those with more money have more buying power. And those with more money are also in a culture of HEAVY consumption. The people who spend, spend a LOT. Thats why the people who buy into these practices are called whales. Oftentimes the reason someone plays a game is because their friends play it, and their friends play it because its a popular game, and its a popular game because it has the most whales in it and theres a LOT of money ready to go into advertisement. "Its everyones fault" is the cowards way out and extremely unhelpful because, in general, its not everyones fault and theres a systemic issue that makes it look that way, and in the worst cases its *designed* to look that way.

[@xil3ntkha0s]

As long as people will pay the greedy companies will play!

[@SkarrGaming]

If the price of cosmetics weren't so stupidly overpriced I'd be more inclined to buy them. Something is very wrong when they try charging something like £20 for a single cosmetic to make you character look different. When you buy a game it's already full of cosmetics that are either available right away or are unlocked by just playing the game. So how come that game costs £50 - £70? Surely by their cosmetic pricing logic the game should cost hundreds of pounds, maybe even over £1000?

[@sepho3070]

looking at you DOA

[@uria3679]

Glad we are finally entering an era where fighting against microtransactions isn’t seen as a bad thing

[@undyingforce]

Love these two. Keep up the great work y’all!

[@sincitystone]

The cosmetics I don't mind, it's when Destiny 2 for example allows you to purchase the 1st 100 ranks for 10000 silver in the season pass. Pay-2-Win models like that are why microtransactions are a pain

[@martyfromnebraska1045]

Glad to see the gaming media looking like the average gamer. Representation is important.

[@joaopaulopeluzio4195]

Actually is a lot milder than it was in the timespan of 2015-2017 were almost all games that had microtransactions often offered unfair advantages for those who bought it or were literally needed for a gameplay progress, fine examples of this are Star Wars Battlefront 2, Black Ops 3 and Infinite Warfare.

[@itsdeonlol]

I love Fridays because of this show!

[@Thatdeal79]

God of War Ragnarok had DLC sized extra content for no extra cost & it was top tier quality. After experiencing that I’m very hesitant to purchase anymore DLC anytime soon.

[@mbletz3958]

This entire disgusting system makes me so happy that my parents never had me grow up with this, and I'm Gen Z. No micro transaction games, no gambling mobile games, not even any online games at all. Just a simple Wii growing up, that's all.

[@Suisai13]

Sims has such a unique business model I wish other games would use. The packs are overpriced, but its just straightforward adding a la cart packs of content you can choose to purchase or not purchase to add more game to your game.

[@Drstrange3000]

They called those expansion packs and DLC back in the day, I believe.

[@chocho999]

I think the first time I encountered microtransactions were from GunZ The Duel in the mid 2000s. Not only were the items pay2win with way better stats, some items were also on a timer after purchase. Meaning you were basically renting items. Still loved the game tho.

[@jamster126]

Paying for cosmetics in Diablo 4 makes no sense to me when it is from a top down perspective and you can barely even see what you purchased.

[@Woupsme]

But... But the log in screen! And you can zoom in on your character in-game!

[@r.d.6290]

I see no point in buying cosmetics in Diablo 4, neither from the store nor from the battlepass. The existing free transmog options are fine, just paint them all the same color to keep the style. What is the point of buying a cosmetic set and to look the same as bunch of other people?

[@TheVisualDigitalArts]

the thing is young people will grow up only knowing battlepasses and gambling mechanics and wont know anything better its the same with movies they are counting on the ignorance of the young.

[@Oldwe_Trag]

I had no idea this show was a thing but really enjoyed it and will try to catch more! Please keep it up. Eve Online has been slowly strangled to death because of the producers chasing microtransactions above all else

[@tresaidh3y90]

Happy you guys shouted out Azeteccross because Destiny is now a free to try game.

[@Nihlux]

Microtransactions have been out of hand for a while now, lol.

[@RH1812]

When I saw you can’t just pay for season stuff in D2, that it was only via ‘silver’ I noped

[@MrTwenty6point2]

I wouldn’t call the transactions in D4 exactly micro.

[@s27448632]

I actively avoid games that have microtransactions. I think the last time I actually spent money on a mt was for some skins in LOL back in 2011

[@samushunter0048]

This is why I haven’t even thought about buying an EA sports Fifa and now FA game in a long time.

[@enternameder]

greedy scummy malicious.. are you surprised? it's ActiBlizz!

[@Goatcha_M]

If it costs more than $5 its a Macrotransaction. If it costs $20+ you can't even argue about it, there is nothing Micro about it.

[@tomaburque]

Blizzard used tricky dark patterns to trick me into buying the $100 version of the game when I intended to buy the $70 version. Again, no confirmation dialog. You find out when you see your bank statement. Then they ignore any tickets you put in about the issue, they ghost you. I had to dispute the charge with the credit card company.

[@mumra100]

They been out of line when I payed 70 dollars for a preorder of Diablo 3 and was only able to play most of the first board.

[@sapphic_sleeper]

Excellent episode!

[@Punisher6791]

blizzard is a terrible company, its not just Diablo 4 thats a mess, Call of duty MW II is in shambles and has been since launch, laggy servers, imbalanced weapons, terrible UI, and the list goes on and on. they are so preoccupied with nickel and diming the players with paid content that they cant be bothered to fix the game. its sad.

[@Pet_VibesCce]

All games want know a days is just money not for their players to be happy

[@wakaneut]

Remember horse armor? Isn't this what companies have been doing? They know the fact that if they keep doing this for years, people's line of accepting mtx will slowly start shifting further and further. What they did not accept 5 years ago, will slowly be accepted today, and so on.

[@AllDayWong10]

Turbo tax hit HARD 😣

[@Mando44646]

publishers don't get to justify the need for $70 while at the same time charging egregious amount of money as if they are a freemium phone game

[@olivierdube809]

Good grief! I'd be adamant about a refund! This takes the cake in terms of bait. "Oh, you just clicked at the wrong place, soooooorrrrryyyy..." Whoever decided it was OK to do this deserves the heat! I bet they'll change it without ever aknowledging it was dishonest in the first place! I don't play Diablo IV, but come on developers!! How about respecting your audience!! I work in retail and I just had a conversation with a coworker about respecting the customers. I'm really surprised this could fly in such a big studio! It's a "small" thing that will send them a lot of deserved backlash! Good call guys!

[@sam5n0w]

« EA Sports, it’s in your wallet » 😂

[@germ4bass]

What happened to unlocking stuff when you beat the game or when you beat it in certain difficulties like Devil May Cry 3.

[@alancosta1550]

Even cheat codes became dlc in some games... it's just sad

[@Ray-ko1po]

You described exactly how I feel when I play valorant without friends

[@uknighted213]

Like ten years ago

[@KennyJordana]

What happened to Rurikhan, happened to me as well. It's complete BS.

[@otakugaijin2298]

If it's money involved then it has to have a "confirmation" question to which it should ask the user. I think it's intentional that they did that. Should refund the money of those who fell to this.

[@Konfide4043]

Thank goodness for Remnant 2 What a game. Then Baldurs Gate 3!

[@RawWrath]

Then starfield,mk1, spiderman2,Alan wake, assassin creed what do we even do

[@TreeFPV]

whenever a new game being released is really buggy on release (bf2042, codmw3, diablo 4, destiny 2) just remember that the in game item shop is always working 100% correctly on day one and never has any issues. priorities are so wrong these days

[@garethsmith6611]

Blizzard could be sued for that should be illegal and thats total trickery for sure.

[@armymen4]

These are called "Dark Patterns"

[@fredrm6023]

hold up, Gamespot has a youtube channel. Dude

[@Js1u]

It happened to me too

[@js1879]

Its been out of hand for years. Thankfully i play single player games and if i felt the game was great and there so happens to be dlc or expansions in the form of more story, ill feel better donating more money. If that feeling is not strong enough after completing the game, they dont get more of my money

[@Raddlesnakes000]

If the skins and finishers in Dennis 2 were half the price Tess Eververse offers I would have bought a bunch rather than none at all. Same with the dlcs and season passes.

[@marks6928]

“Getting”?

[@proffessorh]

Just here for Miss Luscious James

[@Palehorse23]

Division 1-2 Metal Gear Solid call of dutys battlefields and more now they're doing + or premium passes like ubisoft + or gta premium anything to get into your wallet its bad enough that they sell you unfinished games and games that constantly repeat the previous games. Games are just going down the toliet and plus the live subscription. Man do i miss split screen. Oh and on the Edit of the statement. The creators "DO NOT CARE ABOUT THE GAMING COMMUNITY" they are like drug dealer they only want your Money. in the monopoly that we practically gave them. because without gamers they would be no where. Best bet they would probably be selling cellphones.

[@danilthorstensson8902]

This was always going to happen. These are private corporations within capitalism

[@jettxjordan]

Another great video guys. Keem em coming! :)

[@99Kap]

I'd watch a longer less edited more in depth conversation video (podcast style) from you guys. Really criticizing the worst things about the industry and celebrating the best things in detail could do a lot to educate gamers on what companies are doing to take advantage of them and what companies are also doing right.

[@sepho3070]

they have the afterdark podcast that they sometimes touch on these topics.

[@flatwall4569]

Happy I never played this game. Knew this was going to come.

[@MyuNeptune]

Blizzard is making games just for money at this point. I don't know why people even bother. I was excited for DIV as a DII players...but when i've seen that there are skins, battle passes and so on...I said no. They flipped OW1 to OW2 just to shove microtransactions in, Diablo Immortal was released and we know how this game work and it's just keep going.

[@brentabel5094]

If you wanna see Predatory go play Magic The Gathering Arena it's maybe the most Pay to win game ever.

[@fallenangel9398]

That’s why we don’t buy games anymore for full price or preorder lol

[@phatmillips]

Easy solution is to just NOT BUY MICROTRANSACTIONS - ever. Until people stop they (the developers, mostly the publishers) will keep doing this and it'll get worse

[@ll13gaming]

I hate "free to play games" for that reason, and they're saying last of us factions is gonna be like that 🤦‍♂️

[@kevinlavers6712]

The problem is that people keep on buying these microtransactions and game creators make more profit from it instead of creating a finished game. It is way easier to make a microtransactions game instead of making a finished game and eventual a DLC (that has a normal cost attached to it). It's all about the money you know...

[@gixG17]

Destiny 2 is particularly disgusting because the campaign I bought when the game was released is no longer available and, instead of offering me their oldest available campaign, they’re treating me as if I’m just downloading the game for free.

[@ESPirits87]

Rockstar games has made 6.5 billion from GTA5 and Online, they have literally paid development costs for GTA5, RDR2 and GTA6 and still have 3 billion left, yet they are very greedy trying to milk everything out of the game, and that they disbanded RDO updates is ridiculous, with the money they have they could keep the game going for 20 years.

[@KyleLemmon]

Great video! 👍

[@PillowEgg]

Games were great when it was just a base game and big hefty expansions. No smaller DLCs. Just good substational games. Games with smaller DLC with crossover usually end up being delisted and gamers getting an incomplete game.

[@twofarg0ne763]

I vowed in 2012 to never buy, play, or support any game company that fills their games with microtransactions. I've had a lot fewer games to play, but so what? I can still find games to play and have all that otherwise wasted money in the bank. I uninstalled every Blizzard game when Bobby (give me your money) Kotick took over Blizzard.

[@ChristopherStone]

I was so excited for Diablo IV until I saw the battle pass and cosmetics. I haven’t bought it and don’t plan to because the game would be 100x better with out that implementation.

[@MattLazzara]

Just basing off the title, but they truly have changed how games are made, mostly in a bad direction.

[@9cyph]

I think people make too big of a deal about Microtransactions in Diablo 4. I literally played through the first month with barely even knowing where the section was to even buy things in the first place. It literally is only for the people that want to spend on additional content, and allows developers to make additional revenue for gaming which has become increasingly more difficult despite gaming costing the same as it did back in the 90s when games were made with 4 guys in a garage in 4 months, whereas with the size of video games now a days which take 4+ years, with 100s of employees across multiple teams in multiple countries with hired writers, directors, actors, full Orchestral Scores, servers, & continued aupport for years after release with additional updates, battle passes, and expansions. Why do we think we see gaming companies laying off workers and going under, or being bought & consolidated so much by larger companies? As much as we hate it, Optional Microtransactions for cosmetic items that don’t effect gameplay is a happy medium to keep AAA gaming going.

[@FidelisRaven]

The way you describe it Blizazrd CEOs would go hungry if it werent for mtx. Bs.

[@lionablaze8747]

no! microtransactions are not a necessary evil. it's that mentality that has gotten us here.

[@NeOmega83]

*Micheal Transaction is at It again* 😂