Microtransactions caused by greed
The online generation has brought many great things to gaming over previous years. For instance, the ability to play with your friends at any time wherever they are in the world, as long as they have a console and an internet connection. Or the chance to download new updates for your games and consoles to fix bugs and improve your experience. But there's one thing that's been ushered in during recent times that isn't so appreciated, and that's microtransactions.
A microtransaction is the fancy wording for what is essentially a mini-purchase within a game. You see a cool weapon that you really like and you need to have it? Then spend a small amount of your real-world money to get your hands on it. That outfit that makes you look ultra cool, even though it actually has no effect on gameplay? You can spend real-world money on that, too.
These microtransactions are no problem if you're enjoying a free-to-play game and want to unlock some extra items. However things get tricky when you consider that even full-priced releases now come with the option to pay more money to get more stuff. What started out as something seemingly innocuous has now turned into - what most people believe - a way for the big companies to squeeze as much money as possible out of their customers.
Take one of the latest games from Microsoft for the Xbox One. Forza Motorsport 5, one of the biggest racing franchises in the world, now has a system in place where you can spend real-world money to gain XP at a much quicker rate. Previous Forza games rewarded players with new cars after levelling up, but now it's all XP based. It might not be the case, but it seems like the system of progressing to better cars has been altered solely to accommodate microtransactions.
A Season Pass doesn’t help things, either. Players are being asked to fork over another $50 USD if they wish to unlock new cars over the next few months, with some of them even making their debut in earlier Forza titles. I usually have no problem with downloadable content as long as it adds a large chunk of new gameplay, but a Season Pass on top of the encouragement to pay money for boosting your XP just grates with me. Forza 5 isn't the only racing game guilty of this, as it looks like Gran Turismo 6 will follow the same type of system.
There must be some people out there who are responding well to these microtransactions, otherwise they wouldn't exist at all. It's fine for players who are low on time and have the extra money to spend out, but a game shouldn't be altered so that microtransactions can exist, especially if the big triple-A games remain at a premium price.
If things carry on the way they are then we could be in for a dangerous future, as the big games come with microtransactions that basically break the fundamentals of a game. Can't be bothered spending time to learn the skills needed to progress further? Just spend some more money to power up your character and blast everything in sight. It might seem a bit far-fetched right now, but it could be a reality in the coming years as publishers aim to maximise profits.