Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski has spoken out on his desire to rid micro-transactions from gaming.
”The video game industry is just that,” he wrote. ”An industry.”
Downplaying our fears that anybody would make games for the love of it, Bleszkinski said these products “exist to produce, market, and ship great games ultimately for one purpose. First, for money, then, for acclaim.”
In-app purchases have become a huge earner for many companies, and Bleszinski doesn’t believe one should be singled out as the bad guy. He makes specific reference to EA and Valve in his post:
”I think it’s bull** that EA has the ‘scumbag EA’ memes on Reddit and that Good Guy Valve can Do No Wrong.
“Don’t get me wrong - I’m a huge fan of Gabe and co… However, it blows my mind that somehow gamers don’t seem to get that Valve is a business, just like any other, and when Valve charges $100 for an engagement ring in Team Fortress 2 it’s somehow ‘cool’ yet when EA wants to sell something similar it’s seen as ‘evil’.
”Yes, guys, I hate to break it to you, as awesome as Valve is they’re also a company that seeks to make as much money as possible,” he continued.
”They’re just way better at their image control.”
Bleszinski’s point is clear. If you don’t like paying for extra content, then don’t spend.
”If you don’t like EA, don’t buy their games,” he said.
”If you don’t like their micro-transactions, don’t spend money on them.”
“I assure you there are teams of analysts studying the numbers behind consumer behaviour over there that are studying how you, the gamer, spends his hard earned cash.”
Should one company be outlined as worse than another for adding micro-transactions to its products? Let us know your thoughts.
