160°

Worst Business Practices In Gaming Industry

iLLGaming contributor Anikait Makkar writes about the gaming industry's current business practices, and how it affects the consumer.

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desertpunk863726d ago

free to play no matter how good the game is if it is a free to play i dont play.

i want to pay full price for a full balanced experience unlocks shouldn't be earned by money but by the hard work you put in the game.

my free to play nightmares are borderlands,diablo,titanfall,w arhawk 2,halo and star wars battlefront.

SteamPowered3726d ago

If you have ever played Path of Exile, that is the best way of microtransactions ever. PoE is a great game. Its what Diablo 3 should have been and it is completely free. All the items for purchase are cosmetic and the store isnt intrusive at all. In fact, I had to actually look in the menu to find where the microtransactions are housed.
But for the most part, yes. F2P is garbage.

iceman063726d ago

I would add Warframe to that list as well. Very much like you describe. Everything that you need is offered to you in game. Things that you pay for are either cosmetic or for convenience (i.e., you are impatient). Might not be the game for you, but the F2P structure is pretty sound.

caseh3726d ago

At which point did Titanfall become free to play hmmmm...

ThatArtGuy3726d ago

He's not saying that they are, he's saying it would be horrible if they were.

caseh3726d ago

He should have said 'would be' rather than 'are' I guess.

lonelyplayer3726d ago

Hey I agree 100% with you. I hate those unbalanced pay-to-win games.

maniacmayhem3726d ago

I agree.

The whole F2P model is designed to keep the user playing and paying well past an ordinary retail price. Most devs also design features that prey on a person's gambling, need to collect or complete an objective as soon as possible type of vice.

Trust I worked at Zynga and you should read the design tricks and tactics used to squeeze every penny out of their user base.

Yes, every company has their tactics but the F2P design in most video games is so blatant and disgusting. I stay away from those games...well I try but that damn Marvel Alliance... :(

gamer20133725d ago

A great example of a game that features the blood sucking F2P model would be Warthunder.

ExCest3725d ago

The Valve f2p model is really good. You don't have to pay a dime or grind for hours to get items to boost your "skills". You just happen to want more hats so you pay money for them.

Prime1573725d ago (Edited 3725d ago )

Edit: I'm just not sure it's so simple as lumping free to play as bad....

That's pay to win which is a derivative of free to play, and which is also very common amongst AAA $60 retail games. The $60 lures you into a false sense of free.

There are games attempting many facets of the free to play model and some are pretty good, like planet side, some private servers, team fortress, DOTA and warframe WHERE you literally never (have to) spend anything - I didn't on planet side 2 with 20+ hours, and similar with warframe.

There are also some like killer instinct and warframe (KEYWORD: CROSSOVER) where it's basically a glorified demo. KI has only one/two characters, and warframe trenches you into a character you might not like in a little (but least you can build a new one several hours later).

Then there are the worst of the worst where you have to pay to win. Sometimes it's by buying upgrades to your gear like in runes of magic, or buying overly expensive increased experience in leveling grinding games like Rohan: Blood Feud.

Where I'm coming from: I had a free to play phase where I played (in no particular order but memory):

ragnarok (both subscribed before free to play, and free to play), path of exile, dragons nest, cloud nine, holic, requiem: bloodymare, runes of magic, tribes, warframe and planetside 2 (pre-ps4), blacklight, dcuo, dragon's nest, maple story, runes of magic, Farmville, clash of clans, team fortress 2 (actual, I bought it that long ago), dota, league of legends, lotr online, minecraft, wizard 101, dungeon fighter, many aria and net gear games, perfect world...

And many more that I can't remember because I don't want to.... And by played, I would say I spent more than 5+ hours (but mainly 20+ on aforementioned titles) on each of those game listed above, sometimes hundreds.

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Jovanian 3726d ago

Worst business practices

Paying to play online (PS+, XBL)
Season passes
disc locked content
Paid DLC (DLC should be free unless it is significant enough to be an expansion)

Jubez1873726d ago

Paying to Play Online: It's a service. A TV is a product, cable is a service. A playstation is a product, PS+ is a service. How many services do you get for free? I'm sure you pay a cellphone bill as well.

Season Passes: I 100% agree on here. Never pay for anything that is not guaranteed to be coming.

Paid DLC: No one says you have to buy it. If it's cosmetics or trivial things such as Themes and Avatars there's no problem with it. You don't HAVE to buy it. It takes resources to MAKE dlc. Why would a company (video game companies are profit maximizers, btw) go and make a whole DLC questline or storyline and then give it to you for free? That brings ZERO marginal revenue to the company. I know it sounds great, and companies that do it are great. But the suits up top, yea they don't care. That's just business. Just because you bought an entre doesn't mean the dessert is going to be free. And AGAIN, you don't have to buy it or support it.

Imalwaysright3726d ago (Edited 3726d ago )

Games are NOT services. We pay full price for them and that means that we should be able to play 100% of their content with no additional cost.

crusf3726d ago

"Paid DLC" Then people complain no DLC is coming for there particular system or game.

Prime1573725d ago (Edited 3725d ago )

I agree with you mostly, but I disagree with ps+...

I bought into that in 2011 and don't regret it. It's like Sega channel, but feasible.

Maybe I just play too many games, so ps+ makes sense.. Like the payday 2, remember me, bioshock infinite, outlast, and more in the last month or two... I would have had to spend an easy few hundred on those games I wanted to play.

Jubez1873726d ago

As a business student, I have to disagree heavily with some points.

_FantasmA_3726d ago (Edited 3726d ago )

Paying to use your own internet, DLC (all of it, I'd rather have expansion packs with a ton of content), DLC coming out a week after the game's release, incomplete games with missing sections sold as DLC, pre order bonuses, short and pointless campaigns, not having server lists (like COD which insert you into random games and maps), expensive and permanent digital prices, yearly sequels with minor changes at full price, lack of challenging AI, lack of originality, and most of Micro$ofts "business practices." This may sound like a hateful statement, but I blame M$ for bringing most of these things to consoles. I remember when there free and inexpensive map packs on Live in the early years of 2006 and 2007, then they started pinching pennies.

MaxwellBuddha3726d ago

Who else here has been gaming long enough to remember when paying $50 got you the WHOLE game? No left-out content sold as DLC, disc-locked content, season passes, outfits, avatars, etc.

Excuse me, I need to go have a cry at what has happened to my beloved hobby.

Derekvinyard133726d ago

Amen brother, plus there wasn't as much bugs as there was today. Nearly 80% of games have patches

Vegetarianshark3726d ago (Edited 3726d ago )

Ea happened,Capcom happened these giant shameless corporations has bastardized the gaming industry with their BS money-grabbing tactics and ruined so many amazing games (Battlefield,Resident evil and many more).Very sad indeed.

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80°

Looking back to 2014 and Forza Motorsport 5 Racing GOTY Edition

Carlos writes - "When it was time for Forza 5 to rock on up to the track, we were just entering the third generation of Xbox consoles, and to show off all that extra horsepower that would come inside the Xbox One, they wanted a flagship title that could truly showcase just what miracles the next generation could perform. And what better title than Microsoft’s beloved racer!"

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mijayire1749d ago (Edited 1749d ago )

Such s supreme racing title. Hands down racing franchise of recent decades. Nothing has come close in quality or ratings.

bluefox7551749d ago

Not to mention the worst rated game in the series.

mijayire1749d ago

Apart from Forza 5. Talking about generally the Forza series has always been rated high. Perhaps Forza 5 was rushed for launch. Although made up again by Forza 6 and 7.

IRetrouk1749d ago

I liked the game well enough, it was a good starting point for the new gen and helped them build up to what motorsport 7 is now, the controversies wasnt with the numbers of cars or tracks though, it was more to do with the pc footage being passed off as xbox one, the downgrade from what they originally had shown caused more upset than the numbers.

60°

Put pedal to the metal in Forza Motorsport 5 now free via the Games With Gold scheme

Carlos writes - "It’s time to tweak that tuning setup, perfect those visuals and strap in to that harness before heading down to the track, as Forza Motorsport 5 is calling for all players with a free download now available thanks to Games With Gold!"

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270°

Are the free Xbox Games With Gold titles for September 2017 any good?

James writes - "So here we are with a new month about to begin, and we all know by now that means a number of new games are about to be gifted to all Xbox One and Xbox 360 players via the Xbox Games With Gold scheme for September2017. The free games of last month were passable if truth be told, but can September’s offerings make it a month to remember, or one to skip over?"

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timotim2440d ago

Well...lets see. So FM5 is 2013's Racer of the Year, while Oxenfree was nominated and won all types of awards as an indie game in 2016. On the BC side, both games are classics.

lxeasy2440d ago

The Games for Gold this month are pretty good

DaNineTwo2440d ago

I have no idea why you got disagrees.

shinrock2440d ago (Edited 2440d ago )

Because ur in Sonyland.

DaGreatOne2440d ago

I got disagrees for pointing the same thing out the psn games coming. I doubt some people actually enjoy games that visit this site.

TheSaint2439d ago

I swear some people just go into topics and hit disagree on every post for no reason.

EazyC2440d ago

Of course they are. The competition between PS Plus and GwG is getting good now, expect more great months on both sides

2440d ago Replies(5)
Razzer2440d ago

Damn good month. No doubt

senorfartcushion2440d ago

Ps propagandist article and post.

Keep it neutral, fanboy.

senorfartcushion2438d ago

Profile picture, son. I'm an adult, I don't do that fanboy nonsense.

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