Why microtransactions, IAPs and LootBoxes are here to stay thread

[Dogg Thang]

People have a tendency to think "kids will watch any old rubbish" but I think kids are surprisingly discerning. I'm not talking about young children here, but older children.

It's the same for younger children too. There are very clear successes and very clear failures. Kids know what they want and they know it when they get it. Now what they want isn't always the same as what's good, just like with food I guess, so that needs to be acknowledged. Lots of children's content began as glorified toy commercials, especially in the US in the '80s, and that can't be denied - the roots are cynical and, with some, there aren't many ways to defend that. However, what you'll find with most shows, even those with the most cynical beginnings, are people looking to make them as good as they can be for kids. They don't always succeed. And there is often a battle with the commercial interests that pay for the show in the first place and creatives can lose that battle (I imagine too that there must be some people in games companies losing a bit of their soul every day when the games are turned into a microtransaction hell). But some good shows have come from those beginnings and many, many shows didn't have that cynical birthplace at all.

[QualityChimp]

That's what I mean - these big hitters are reliant on some kind of IP to base it from.

If we only ever get CoD mobile from now on, for example, surely at some point the desire to play it lessens as players no longer have that association with the fun console games and want to recreate that on their mobile device?

[Cassius_Smoke]

That's what I mean - these big hitters are reliant on some kind of IP to base it from.

If we only ever get CoD mobile from now on, for example, surely at some point the desire to play it lessens as players no longer have that association with the fun console games and want to recreate that on their mobile device?

True but I dont think they give a **** about the long term. Its all about making money now.

[vanpeebles]

But then you had kids running up huge telephone bills on the sex chat lines in the back of the Sunday sport

Mucky pup!!

[Team Andromeda]

Mucky pup!!

Not me mate , I was happy enough with page 3 .. but knew a few wjo got grounded for running up huge bills on the sex lines LOL

[MartyG]

Call of Duty Mobile getting a lot of flak over their Halloween special spin lootbox surprise mechanic or whatever BS name they're calling it at the moment. The premise is that the spins are being rigged to force people to keep spending an increasing stake (and it is a stake) to try and get the skeleton costume and AK47. Why do people think it's rigged? Because in every case, the skeleton and AK47 don't come up until the 9th and 10th spins, at which point you've spent around £150. Plus they're misrepresenting the gambing odds (and it is gambling).

[Neon Ignition]

https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2019-10-24-ubisoft-delays-watch-dogs-legion-gods-and-monsters-rainbow-6-quarantine

Rainbow Six: Quarantine, Gods & Monsters and Watch Dogs 3: Legion have all been delayed till sometime between April 2020 and March 2021. Why? Because the bubble has burst for Ubisoft's homogenised GAAS releases. Can you smell the Next Gen launch releases already?

To varying degrees Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and The Division 2 have proven to be commercial failures for Ubisoft causing a wave of panic at the studio.

https://twitter.com/W_Chloe

Not sure on the reliability but reportedly The Division 2 sold a 10th of projections

[Digfox]

Regarding Ubisoft's bad Financials. Good. As we've always said not everything needs to be a GaaS. Although judging by the below I'm not sure they really understand the 'why'.

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[Asura]

Regarding Ubisoft's bad Financials. Good. As we've always said not everything needs to be a GaaS. Although judging by the below I'm not sure they really understand the 'why'.

The weirder thing is that GaaS titles are all-encompassing; you can't really play more than one at the same time, or certainly, I think people are unlikely to be paying money into more than one at the same time.

For a company like Ubi, who have a military GaaS shooter, a military GaaS shooter and, oh, another military GaaS shooter, at what point do they start to compete with themselves?

[Cassius_Smoke]

The weirder thing is that GaaS titles are all-encompassing; you can't really play more than one at the same time, or certainly, I think people are unlikely to be paying money into more than one at the same time.

For a company like Ubi, who have a military GaaS shooter, a military GaaS shooter and, oh, another military GaaS shooter, at what point do they start to compete with themselves?

Absolutely. There is only a finite number of people playing games with a finite amount of cash. The more GaaS titles the thinner that butter is spread.

[MartyG]

Regarding Ubisoft's bad Financials. Good. As we've always said not everything needs to be a GaaS. Although judging by the below I'm not sure they really understand the 'why'

Indeed - they seem to have missed the main reason; it's completely over monitised with microtransactions infesting every aspect of the game at the expense of gameplay.

I'm glad it's failed to meet expectations as perhaps it means people are starting to tire of this nonsense.

[Team Andromeda]

To varying degrees Ghost Recon: Breakpoint and The Division 2 have proven to be commercial failures for Ubisoft causing a wave of panic at the studio.

I very much doubt Division 2 was a commercial failure I would just imagine it didn't sell as well as hoped. I'm not surprised to see Ghost Recon: Breakpoint get flack mind, it's one of the worst games I've played this generation (but I only played it on a mate PS4).

And to me Watch Dogs legion as just been delayed because the game is not finished

[Digfox]

I very much doubt Division 2 was a commercial failure I would just imagine it didn't sell as well as hoped. I'm not surprised to see Ghost Recon: Breakpoint get flack mind, it's one of the worst games I've played this generation (but I only played it on a mate PS4).

And to me Watch Dogs legion as just been delayed because the game is not finished

Ubisoft have stated that The Division 2 underperformed and didn't meet their expectations on several occasions now.

Also the reasons for these delays are commercial as Ubisoft pushes the releases into the next fiscal year. And not about the development. I suspect they are also putting all costs against the current fiscal year too. Whilst this will likely increase the financial performance next year it will accentuate the decline in revenue and profit this year.

"We want our teams to have more development time to ensure that their respective innovations are perfectly implemented so as to deliver optimal experiences for players," said CEO Yves Guillemot in a statement. "This decision will have a very significant impact on our financial results for this fiscal year and goes against our recent successes in building a more stable development model. However, it is in line with our strategy to maximize the future value of our brands for the long-term benefit of our employees, players, and shareholders. We expect it to have a positive impact on our financial performance as from 2020-21."

Quite a telling statement there. The share price is already down nearly 25% on trading today. And it appears Shareholders raised concerns about over monitisation and 'pay to win' numerous times. Which were not addressed in the responses by Yves Guillemot. Again haha...

[Team Andromeda]

Ubisoft have stated that The Division 2 underperformed and didn't meet their expectations on several occasions now.
.

And I read the same for Resident Evil 7. Think there is a difference from not selling as well as hoped in the 1st year to being a flop.

Quite a telling statement there. The share price is already down nearly 25% on trading today.

Share prices go up and down even if you're Nintendo. I think its just a lot of PR speak for a game not quite read and where next spring it starting to look overcrowed with games again and where Spring is now the new Christmas for games releases

[Atticus]

The problem with The Division 2 was the first one was better. Maybe not technically ... but thematically, much better. Washington was dreary compared to snowy New York.

Still had a lot of fun with both though