A decade ago, this term was unknown to most gamers. Now, almost every major gaming franchise involving multiplayer has integrated it entirely into the game-play, which serves only one function – quick cash. The most common appearance of this feature is in FPS games(Halo, Evolve, Call Of Duty) where one is able to buy gun skins, victory poses etc. Usually, these do not affect gameplay at all and is just for visual attraction. But now, these micro-transactions include exclusive weapons, characters, power-ups; completely altering the balance of online gameplay. It becomes even more worse when players who buy these items are allowed to compete with those who haven’t. Because of this, most of the players are restricted from experiencing the full aspect of what the game offers.
As if that wasn’t enough, companies are misusing DLCs( Downloadable Contents) and season passes as means of making the players buy them in order to get the full game instead of expanding the content of the game. It’s like when one buys a product, they only offer about half of it and demand more money to receive the other half. (Annoying, isn’t it?) I feel ashamed to see that gaming, which used to be a platform for entertainment( like sports ), has become yet another corporate-sponsored industry. I hope that atleast there are some developers who feel that game development is more than just making money.
akorep 