Microtransactions are a divisive subject in gaming. Some of us have spent hundreds on extra content, while others have never even spent 99 cents on a few extra Candy Crush lives. But there’s a clear problem with the practice in its current state, and that’s the concept of forced change. So, let me explain.
Many popular games like Marvel Snap, Genshin Impact, and Project Sekai feature microtransaction bundles you can often only buy with in-game currency. The problem is that these bundles rarely, if ever, line up with the price of the currency packages. For example, we can look at the latest Marvel Snap bundle, the Rivalry Week pack, which costs 4,000 gold. Assuming you have zero gold, the only option is slightly under the amount with a 3,850 gold purchase or almost double the amount you need with the maximum 8,000 gold offering. There’s no in-between.
Of course, that’s a pretty particular example, but it rings true across the board. Of course, the excuse of the developers is probably something along the lines of “you can earn gold, so just save your gold” which is all well and good, but why give us so many things to buy then? It’s also interesting in the case of Marvel Snap that the one gold bundle that does line up with in-game pricing is the 700 gold bundle, which you can trade right away for a rare variant. There’s no forced change there, but with the daily offer variants refreshing every day, you could be forgiven for saying that this pushes players to spend more if they see a variant they like.
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