In 2023, console video game players will spend $21B on in-game items and subscriptions, as "live service games" make the market more akin to mobile
Games console industry tries to adapt to rise of free-to-play titles
Virtual goods such as Fortnite weapons and subscription services such as Microsoft’s Game Pass have become as important to the console industry as its traditional money spinner of high-priced standalone games, marking a turning point for the $60bn business.
Console players are set to splash out $21bn on in-game items and subscription services this year — about the same as they will spend on game downloads and discs, according to research group Ampere Analysis.
Such expenditure has risen sharply since the popular free title Fortnite debuted in 2017. Gamers that year spent three times more on console software than on subscriptions and virtual items.
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"If players continue to gravitate to free games, such as Fortnite, that do not require the latest hardware, Sony will find it more difficult to sell its PS5 to all but the most dedicated of players, some analysts have argued."
Archived version of the article: https://archive.vn/032BW#selection-2369.103-2373.159
Is this is the reason why game companies are charging $70 and add microtransactions and battle passes to every game. If you're shitting on it and still buying it, you're part of the problem.
The big two are whales, which they actively target and exploit the addiction to the games, and kids. A surprisingly high amount of parents just leave their credit cards in the console and let the kids buy.
Funny, everything is about protect the kids now but nothing is being done about predatory micro transactions
we only have a switch and a few ios games, we pay for game, play game. Check done.
I'm saddened by the phenomenon because there's plenty of evidence that the audiences for these most of these games hate the experience, but they can't stop playing because they've become victims of predatory psychological tactics designed to keep them addicted and their wallets wide open. These publishers and studios literally hire psychologists who specialize in generating this addiction, using models optimized to prey on their own users as much as humanly possible. It's sickening. The sports games are especially shameless about this. Ruining people's finances and their core sense of financial responsibility to fatten their pockets. I don't know how they sleep at night. Sociopaths, the lot of them.
Proof or ban.
Cite something. If you are going to make outrageous claims like this at least drop an article
I'm sorry, I don't follow. What did I say that would be considered an outrageous claim?
Hiring psychologist
Why would that be considered outrageous?
This has been reported on for years.
Example 1, Example 2.