By Coyt Wisdom
Reporter
Video games have become increasingly popular in the last couple of decades. From inserting a coin into an arcade machine to now being able to spend hard earned money on a video game at home. Spending money to play a video game is not something new. One must buy a video game to play it, but if someone wants to get a new cosmetic item for their custom in-game character, well that might cost extra in the form of a microtransaction.
According to an article published by Investopedia a microtransaction is when someone can buy virtual items with money. It could be best described as a digital purchase.
In the 1990s and 2000s video games microtransactions did not exist. If someone wanted to get a cosmetic item for their character, they would have to play that video game and unlock that item by completing in-game missions.
According to Touro University Worldwide, the desire to purchase microtransactions are embedded in the psychology of humans.
Joe Stowe, a video game player from Oklahoma said the first video game he played with microtransactions in it was The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion.
Stowe said the cosmetics that someone could buy in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion was the first time he had been introduced to the idea that someone could buy something to make their character look different.
The current era of video games is almost all microtransactional. Video games such as Grand Theft Auto Five, Fortnite and the Madden NFL Football series have some form of microtransactions. And there are also phone game apps that have microtransactions, such as Pokémon Go and Clash Royale.
Stowe said if he buys a microtransaction on a phone game, it is for 99 cents. And usually that purchase is to remove ads.
According to an article published in February 2022 by Gamerant, video game publisher Activision made $5.1 billion from microtransactions and DLC (downloadable content).
There is also a negative side to microtransactions. It could cause somewhat of a gambling addiction.
“It starts off slow, you buy just one thing and over time you just start buying more and more,” Stowe said. “A good example would be Overwatch with their loot boxes.”
The Overwatch video game featured a microtransaction where a player could spend money for a box of random in-game items. However, a player could also receive in-game currency from a loot box.
Derek Eastep, a video game player from Oklahoma said he was also introduced to microtransactions through The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. However, he says he does not buy video game microtransactions, but he earns in-game currency by playing the video game.
“Overall, they have a place in games. Some games made by indie developers have a lot of microtransactions that are cosmetic only,” Eastep said.
Indie developed video games are made by smaller companies. They are not part of a bigger company such as Electronic Arts, Rockstar games and Activision. In many ways, they rely on microtransactions to keep their product alive.
There also some video games that have microtransactions that are not just cosmetics.
Eastep said video games that offer gameplay advantages through microtransactions is when he begins to question them.
“It becomes more of whose wallet is bigger instead of who’s actually playing the game,” Eastep said.
The future of video games seems to have a microtransactional future. Whether that is good or bad, video game players will have to make a decision as to whether or not to spend their extra money.