Business & Finance Microtransactions

[Husky_Khan]

Most of Activision Blizzard's Q3 revenue came from microtransactions

Per Activision Blizzard's description, in-game net bookings primarily include earnings generated from downloadable content and microtransactions, and are equal to in-game net revenue. So in other words,...

www.techspot.com

1.2 billion in fees generated from microtransactions (and DLC) between the July-September Third Quarter by Activision Blizzard, a 70% increase from the 700 million it made last year during the same time frame. This is more then half of the 1.95 billion in revenue the company pulled in during the same time period.

 

[Abhorsen]

For Blizzard, this makes sense. That's how they make money from League of Legends, for example, and I wouldn't call that exploitative. It's a quality product with people paying for skins or to unlock champions early, and it's a free game otherwise. Their other moneymakers are Hearthstone (see LOL reasoning), and WoW, which has both a subscription and microtransactions, but microtransactions for skins and time savers is pretty standard in MMOs. There are also no loot boxes (that I'm aware of). From all of this, I don't really see an issue here.

Now lets compare this to EA, which is selling full games that are roster updates, and packed with loot boxes as the only way to really get good players. This is what I'd call more exploitative.

And then there are online mobiles, which aren't usually even good games, and on top of this have constant currency things stopping you. So yeah, I don't really have a problem at all with Blizzard on the microtransaction level (them being owned by the CCP, on the other hand? Yes)

 

[Bear Ribs]

I don't much like the fact that this report bundles DLC and Microtransactions together. They're two very different things and while I see many people complain about microtransactions, most people don't seem to have an issue with DLC. Seeing those numbers separately would mean more to me.

 

[Abhorsen]

Also, microtransactions aren't just trying to screw over whales. Basically what they do is setup the ideal pricing model for a company, where every customer pays what they think the product is worth. Usually, setting a price means that you have priced out people who can't afford it/don't value it highly enough, and also stopped people who really value the product from paying more. But when the price is a variable, poorer people/casuals who don't play much will buy some, and people who love the game will spend a ton of money on it.

We see this logic with a lot of things, by the way. Different editions of games, each slightly more expensive? Same thing. Different brands with different price points, like car companies with a luxury brand? Same thing. Apartment complexes with different apartment types with different costs? Same thing again. This is called price discrimination.

We also see it in sneakier ways. Student discounts? The businesses know students are poorer, and want to sell to them at a lower price, but not to everyone. Limited time sales? The businesses are selling to people who have a low value on their time, and thus put in the effort to hunt for sales, don't value their goods as much/are poorer on average, and thus want to sell to them at a cheaper price, hence the sales.

Now who benefits? Both the store and the buyer who pays a cheaper price. Who suffers? The rich or dedicated lover of the product, but they frequently don't even suffer that much as they get something slightly better that they are willing to pay for. Hence here is capitalism actually helping the little guy.

 

[Marduk]

Many of these MMOs, Blizzard ones especially, are making so much money only because they are more popular than their competition, and they are more popular than the competition because more or less Blizzard were the first that made a decent option for its given (sub)genre, which meant that by the time serious competition struck out, a lot of prospective players were already invested in the existing game, probably with all their buddies in it too, and no one is eager to switch with that in mind.

If someone isn't stuck to a particular game by these or similar factors, there is no reason to not switch to a less aggressively monetized and more fun game, which in case of many of the MtX fleecing systems is not a high bar to clear, as they are intentionally poorly designed to get people to pay to skip the boring and annoying parts, which to make them pay a lot, naturally need to be many.

And then there are online mobiles, which aren't usually even good games, and on top of this have constant currency things stopping you. So yeah, I don't really have a problem at all with Blizzard on the microtransaction level (them being owned by the CCP, on the other hand? Yes)

It has always amazed me who the hell throws so much money at mobile gaming. By an old PC player's standards these games are downright boring, mediocre and uninspired, i would have to look very hard to find any i would even want to play for free, nevermind ones to throw money at.

 

[Argent]

I don't mind them on free mobile games. So games like Pokemon Go or Wizarding World have a shop and any of the serious players buy stuff to get get the rare things faster. But you are also able to play for free and get the same stuff it just takes more work and requires a lot of steps.

But everyone wins. The people that want to spend a lot to complete the game quicker can spend the money while the rest of us can just play for free.

But I do dislike microtransactions in games like Star Wars Battlefront 2. When I pay for a game I want a full game not half a game that require massive amounts money on lootboxs and extras. Especially when they make the gamers that spend hundreds able to kill everyone meaning only those with lots of money will rule online play.

I also veiw DLCs as nothing new. Theu are just like the expansion packs That Command and Conquer or Star Craft had back in the 90s. I do wish that more companies did physical media for DLCs. But that is a personal preference becasue I like to own physical copies of everything a buy.