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Why microtransactions, IAPs and LootBoxes are here to stay thread

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    Where's the Team America throwing up gif...

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      Originally posted by briareos_kerensky View Post
      In an effort to appease consumers and governments (without pissing off publishers and developers too much), the ESRB will introduce a new label, below the age rating, stating the game contains "In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items)".

      Introducing a New Interactive Element: In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items). This is when a game allows users to purchase additional items within the game


      Must have taken the brain power of the whole ESRB to come up with such a solution.
      Remember, the ESRB exists as an extension of the industry; it's paid for by the industry itself and doesn't have legal backing. They literally can't rock the boat.

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        Originally posted by Digfox View Post
        What he said


        This is why we can't have nice things.

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          I wonder how much that increase offsets the absence of anything interesting on their slate these days

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            Does it matter? The FUT is minimal effort and low hanging fruit. With those kind of numbers EA doesn't have to try as seemingly there are enough people who are happy to spend money on that stuff. A lot of money by all measures.

            It boggles my mind as I see such little value for money in it, especially given in 6 months, EA is going to make you start all over yet again with FIFA 21.

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              Originally posted by MartyG View Post
              there are enough people who are happy to spend money on that stuff.
              That's the thing; they're spending and they're happy. They complain about not getting Messi every 5 minutes but then they buy more cards next week.

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                It reminds me of Rockstar. A lot of money earnt but such heavy dependence on an increasingly smaller slate of IP feels like it's setting up trouble for down the line. One underperforming entry and chaos would ensue.

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                  Originally posted by Neon Ignition View Post
                  It reminds me of Rockstar. A lot of money earnt but such heavy dependence on an increasingly smaller slate of IP feels like it's setting up trouble for down the line. One underperforming entry and chaos would ensue.
                  It would take a few underperforming entries. GTA5 is the most profitable single entertainment product ever. It's made an absolute fortune.

                  They would need to consistently fail for years to screw that up.

                  The thing about these micro-transaction focused businesses is that for the ones who have swung it right, they didn't double or triple their money; they're making several orders of magnitude more money.

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                    Totally agree with Asura's point.

                    But that article bothered me at the time because I don't think it's factually 100%. Only a quick web search reveals games that have grossed more revenue (i.e. World of Warcraft for one) although to be fair the article doesn't necessarily claim that. I also think the $6bn figure is questionable because it is not clear if it includes MTX revenue. And we can't not compare it to other GaaS games when it itself is one.

                    Either way we don't know it's costs for sure to make blanket statements although I appreciate GTA V/Online is right at the pinnacle.

                    I said the same thing then so at this point I probably just seem a pedant.

                    Last edited by Digfox; 26-05-2020, 12:46.

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                      I've never played it - it's not my thing. Is World of Warcraft one single game, or a franchise / series of games?

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                        Originally posted by Digfox View Post
                        But that article bothered me at the time because I don't think it's factually 100%. Only a quick web search reveals games that have grossed more revenue (i.e. World of Warcraft for one) although to be fair the article doesn't necessarily claim that. I also think the $6bn figure is questionable because it is not clear if it includes MTX revenue. And we can't not compare it to other GaaS games when it itself is one.
                        You're right, of course, in that these definitions aren't firm, so the claim that it's the single, most profitable thing ever might not hold water, but it's obviously up there and up there to the tune of "if success was measured as from here to the moon, GTA5 would be in orbit around Saturn".

                        GTA5's success is just sales of GTA5, and peoples' purchases within the game. The game has no movie, very little merchandise. It's pretty much just GTA5. It's crazy when you think about it. Even if WoW is comparable, that comes from things like expansions, merch, the movie, subscription costs...

                        Originally posted by Marius View Post
                        I've never played it - it's not my thing. Is World of Warcraft one single game, or a franchise / series of games?
                        It's... Complicated? That's what I meant earlier in this post when I said the definition wasn't firm. WoW is the base game, several expansions (which you had to buy, up-front, at basically the cost of a game), a monthly subscription cost (not sure how much it is these days, but it used to be £7 a month), one-off purchases within the game itself and probably includes all of the merchandise revenue, of which there was a ton.

                        GTA's simpler in that regard because there's just the game, and then purchases within the game. It has some merchandise but nowhere near as much as WoW.

                        The figures for these things probably aren't available to judge. It's a bit like how League of Legends ads now say it's "probably the world's most popular game", because it's hard for them to be absolutely certain.
                        Last edited by Asura; 26-05-2020, 14:01.

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                          Originally posted by Asura View Post
                          GTA5's success is just sales of GTA5, and peoples' purchases within the game. The game has no movie, very little merchandise. It's pretty much just GTA5. It's crazy when you think about it. Even if WoW is comparable, that comes from things like expansions, merch, the movie, subscription costs...
                          I don't think so, because the $9.4bn figure for WoW is a Superdata report which doesn't includes Merchandising or licensing from the Movie. GTA V/Online and WoW are live services which are making money from initial 'box' sales and recursive spending, even if the business models are slightly different. So in that sense very comparable.

                          As I say it's a personal bugbear with that GTA V story, as I absolutely agree with the points you made. GTA V/Online is absolutely right up there, just with the huge sums the Housers were taking, employee numbers I'm not sure it's absolutely number one in 'profitability' - I think that title is probably Riot Games's/Tencent's or Blizzard's. I think people do get hung up on GTA V just being one game (not you btw) but in reality they are all doing the same thing. GTA V/Online didn't get to where it did without significant MTX sales.
                          Last edited by Digfox; 26-05-2020, 18:56.

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                            Possibly some movement in the UK

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                              Someone needs to load up fifa and put a one armed Bandit next to it and ask them to shovel money in to both and see what what the difference is.

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                                Well if I put £100 into a one arm bandit I may get a cash payout of £1 to £100.
                                I put £100 into FIFA Ultimate Team I may get virtual card with Lionel Messi‘s face on it.

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