โItโs Very Hard to Find This Golden Path Thatโs Liked by Everyoneโ
Just about every conversation on microtransactions is accompanied by salt, but it doesnโt look like theyโre going anywhere. According to the Need for Speed Payback developer, theyโre needed. but itโs becoming harder to please everyone.
In an interview with Glixel, Marcus Nilsson, the Executive Producer for Ghost Games talked about why Microtransactions have virtually taken over triple-A gaming. According to him, theyโre the result of increased development costs. He said the following:
โItโs clear prices havenโt really gone up. Thatโs clear. I also know that producing games is more expensive than it has ever been. The game universe is changing in front of us now. We see more people playing fewer games for longer. Engagement is important. But how do we deliver longer experiences?
โThe bottom line is that itโs very hard to find this golden path thatโs liked by everyone. We make games that are $60 and some might think that itโs worth $40. Whatโs the value in the package delivered? Something like GTA 5 and GTA Online versus The Last of Us, which you can play through in 10 hours. How do we value that? Thatโs probably a long discussion.โ
Obviously, companies are looking for other avenues to finance their games. It may simply be that players need their transparency with microtransactions, as they do all game implementations. Some developers implement those microtransactions better than others. Which begs the question: How will ghost Games implement microtransactions in Need for Speed Payback? Nilsson describes them below:
โWhen you finish a race you get a card drop. There are three cards and you pick one of them and thatโs randomized and you can equip that to the car, send it to garage, sell it for cash or recycle it.
โThere are also shipments in the game that the core of the economy. In a shipment, you can have in-game cash, vanity items and part tokens, (which are a way to go for a specific part you want.) There are also premium shipments you can buy. The only difference are the vanity items. They are mostly time savers.โ
And so, the microtransaction discussion continues. Do you agree with Nilssonโs comments? Are you looking forward to Need for Speed: Payback? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.