When it comes to cramming microtransactions into full-priced games,Ubisoftis right up there with the most prolific of them. Almost every singleAssassin’s Creedgame since Assassin’s Creed 3 has sold players extra time-savers, armor packs, upgrade points, and pretty much anything else you could possibly think of to monetize.Even future games like the next Ghost Reconsound like they’re going to be full of the things.
It’s extremely rare that Ubisoft releases a game that isn’t full of microtransactions, whether it be single-player or multiplayer, and you’d assume that they do this to make a bit of extra money on top of the $70 (now possibly $80) that people have already paid. Well, you’d assume wrongly,as even though the majority of people absolutely loathe them, Ubisoft reckons that it’s all done for our enjoyment.
Ubisoft Says Having Microtransactions In Its Games Helps Us “Experience More Fun”
This comment comes from one of Ubisoft’s recent financial reports (thanks GamesRadar), during which CEO Yves Guillemot explains to investors that having microtransactions in all of its games “makes the player experience more fun”, in that players get to “personalize their avatars or progress more quickly.” He then quickly stresses that they’re “always optional” though.
If Ubisoft was talking about free-to-play titles, then it would be a little bit more understandable, but it’s talking about its own “premium games”. Now, I might be out of line by saying this, but you’d assume that you’d get all the “fun” that a game has to offer with the base price, which has been steadily increasing for the past decade.
Ubisoft does state later on that it has systems in place to make sure it’s responsible with its extra monetization, claiming that it’s “set up a working group dedicated to monetization and the associated risks”, making sure that it doesn’t cross the line by “identifying practices that could be perceived as manipulative or non-transparent”. It doesn’t say how it’s going to do this, but at least we won’t be manipulated into buying microtransactions. Yay?
