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

[AllThingsInfamous]

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

[Drstrange]

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.

[randomvariety]

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.

[samuelbahij]

Microtransactions have *been* out of hand for some time now, to the point where the term is outdated and in need of replacement.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.

[wazopaio]

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

[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...

[focabox]

"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 😢

[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.

[naryanr]

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

[AxeGaijin]

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

[rabidgiant]

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

[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.

[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.

[jiitrii]

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.

[StormtrooperV]

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!

[Necrilem]

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

[Vipus]

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.

[GMoneyChuck]

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

[victorquiet]

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.

[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.