Microtransactions: How They Started

Microtransactions have been around since the advent of gaming itself, but the mechanic has evolved a lot to reach its present-day stage.

[LordoftheCritics]

Let me re-introduce you to the scum of our industry.

Activision Blizzard
EA
Bethesda (you started it you son of a...)

[SullysCigar]

Thanks, Bethesda! How fitting that you jumped into bed with the company that brought to us 'paying to play with friends', despite already paying the internet service providers. Awesome contributions, now standardised across this wonderful industry.

[meanmallard]

The rise of "DLC" started when Microsoft wanted to maximize profits by charging for online and allowing companies to sell crap like horse armor on the console space.

If it wasn't for Microsoft, Nintendo and Sony wouldn't be charging for online play and neither Sony nor Nintendo was putting any kind of "DLC" in their games until market pressure forced it upon them.

So thanks Microsoft from the beginning you have made console gaming worse.

[blackblades]

IDK I think eventually they would've done it regardless but yeah MS started a lot of crap and smeared all around.

[meanmallard]

I believe that if it wasn't for Microsoft console and PC would have had a much more divergent path like they had up to that point.

Switch is basically the first generation on Nintendo to embrace DLC, and the PS3 barely had a store early on and it was pressure from outside that forced them to have those things. And paid online didn't even start till PS4 at which point it was just about having the revenue stream that Microsoft was getting, and even then it was much more relaxed than on xbox where you even had to pay to play f2p games and PS+ gave you free games (including day 1 games), while xbox didn't offer any games at the time.

[-Foxtrot]

Horse Armour - "Ahh don't worry it's just silly armour, don't like it don't buy it, you've got nothing to worry about"

Loot Boxes - "Ahh don't worry, if you don't like them you don't have to buy them, you've got nothing to worry about"

Microtransactions - "Ahh don't worry it's just an optional thing, don't like it don't buy it, you've got nothing to worry about"

GaaS Games - "Ahh don't worry, clearly the game isn't for you, don't like it don't buy it, there's other games out there you've got nothing to worry about"

And everytime it gets worse the same people will say

"How did this happen, we should have done something"

[ModsDoBetter]

Online passes too…those were an annoying few years trying to stop the second hand market.

[Soulsborne]

M$.

[Phoenix76]

One day, I'm gonna sit down with my grand kids and tell them tales of a magical time when there was no such thing as DLC content. When games were loaded of these strange things we use to call cassettes. And joysticks looked like your grandma's dildo.