From a corpo point of view a game which has no end of life built into it is a product you have to compete with forever.
The only ESG i can see but it is a bit farfetched is that a central of the communication ensures that wrong-think can be destroyed at will with the everchanging rules. But I do not remember that being a explicit point of their point system.
From a corpo point of view a game which has no end of life built into it is a product you have to compete with forever.
Agreed, but always-online has two other advantages as well.
First, it lets the devs get a ton of additional analytics as to how often features are used, how the game's actually being played, etc. Now, that could - and occasionally is - used to actually improve the game, but seemingly more often these days it's used for the second advantage - micro-transactions.
By making the game always-online, you can splash the store page at the players every single time they want to play at all and you get more eyes on whatever the deal-of-the-day (or week or whatever) is. And by spamming people with the ads over and over and over it increases the chances of someone's will wavering and then you get another $2-5 or whatever a skin costs.
You are a bit outdated with the pricing. goes to about 10 these days xD
Other than that you can also prep your commercial in advance or just have them baked into the updates themselves, ofc you don't get the telemetry data and the forced updates on the clients. But overall I agree.
Fair enough on the price, I haven't paid attention to most MTX pricing in a while.
While you can have commercials baked into updates and such, if the client is offline that does add in a couple other complications though. First, there's no guarantee that the ad will actually load (especially if the user legitimately has no internet). Second, and more importantly, though - if you are in offline mode, then to make the purchase you're going to have to exit the game, switch to online mode, relaunch the game and then go to the store. That's a lot of time for the user to overcome the impulse purchase urge compared to the one or two button presses that are required if you're online.
First, there's no guarantee that the ad will actually load (especially if the user legitimately has no internet).
I do agree with this but even with internet there are methods to ensure that the ad is not launched (called modding/hacking). Just being pedantic.
Second, and more importantly, though - if you are in offline mode, then to make the purchase you're going to have to exit the game, switch to online mode, relaunch the game and then go to the store. That's a lot of time for the user to overcome the impulse purchase urge compared to the one or two button presses that are required if you're online.
Yep, lots of nice tricks you use these days to keep people closer to an addict rather then customer. The one I like the best is the virtual currency cause it keeps the thought away from real money and your account spending, ensure that there is almost no legal way to get a refund and makes the impulse transaction short and sweet.
The subject of microtransactions also came up in the session, with Esaki confirming that there would be no cash-for-currency MTXs in the game. Of course there’s a car pass, welcome pack, and race day car pack available at extra cost over the base game — all included in the Premium version — and a VIP membership which includes cars, vanity items, and a permanent credit multiplier.
From a corpo point of view a game which has no end of life built into it is a product you have to compete with forever.
The only ESG i can see but it is a bit farfetched is that a central of the communication ensures that wrong-think can be destroyed at will with the everchanging rules. But I do not remember that being a explicit point of their point system.
Agreed, but always-online has two other advantages as well.
First, it lets the devs get a ton of additional analytics as to how often features are used, how the game's actually being played, etc. Now, that could - and occasionally is - used to actually improve the game, but seemingly more often these days it's used for the second advantage - micro-transactions.
By making the game always-online, you can splash the store page at the players every single time they want to play at all and you get more eyes on whatever the deal-of-the-day (or week or whatever) is. And by spamming people with the ads over and over and over it increases the chances of someone's will wavering and then you get another $2-5 or whatever a skin costs.
You are a bit outdated with the pricing. goes to about 10 these days xD
Other than that you can also prep your commercial in advance or just have them baked into the updates themselves, ofc you don't get the telemetry data and the forced updates on the clients. But overall I agree.
Fair enough on the price, I haven't paid attention to most MTX pricing in a while.
While you can have commercials baked into updates and such, if the client is offline that does add in a couple other complications though. First, there's no guarantee that the ad will actually load (especially if the user legitimately has no internet). Second, and more importantly, though - if you are in offline mode, then to make the purchase you're going to have to exit the game, switch to online mode, relaunch the game and then go to the store. That's a lot of time for the user to overcome the impulse purchase urge compared to the one or two button presses that are required if you're online.
I do agree with this but even with internet there are methods to ensure that the ad is not launched (called modding/hacking). Just being pedantic.
Yep, lots of nice tricks you use these days to keep people closer to an addict rather then customer. The one I like the best is the virtual currency cause it keeps the thought away from real money and your account spending, ensure that there is almost no legal way to get a refund and makes the impulse transaction short and sweet.
Microsoft confirmed no MTX.
I can't help but remember how Sony at first confirmed this for GT Sport, only to sneak them in at a later date.
Activision did the same thing with Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled.
You just can't trust AAA developers at their word anymore.
DLC by definition is a microtransaction, so this is probably gonna always have some sort of grey area.
From the article:
I don't think DLC for extra content and pre-order bonuses count as microtransactions.
That's a good point. Nintendo both uses Mario and competes against Mario with every game. Most companies don't want to do that.