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A few weeks ago, Take-Two's CEO said in an earnings call that the publisher would be looking to include microtransactions in all of its games moving forward. This of course, arrived just before the Battlefront II loot box fiasco. Given the backlash EA is facing, other publishers are likely taking notice, though Take-Two seems to be undeterred.
Speaking at the same Credit Suisse event that EA's Blake Jorgensen spoke at yesterday, Take-Two president, Karl Slatoff spoke a bit about the publisher's thoughts on loot boxes and how it relates to gambling.
“We don't view that thing as gambling”, he said, speaking about lootbox mechanics. However, he also added that “potential legislation is going to play its course”. This is in response to politicians and regulators in Belgium and Hawaii speaking out against loot boxes in recent weeks.
From Slatoff's point of view, as long Take-Two ensures that transactions feel fair, then he doesn't anticipate any problems: “In terms of the consumer, the noise you hear in the market right now, it's all about content and over-delivering on content. It's about making making sure you're focused on engagement, and I think that has been our strategy. That has been our focus. And as long you keep your eye on that ball, you're going to be okay. The consumer's going to be really happy with what they get.”
Take-Two is of course no stranger to microtransactions. The publisher has made hundreds of millions of dollars a year selling Shark Cards in GTA Online. The company also got much more aggressive with microtransactions in NBA2K18 this year, which hasn't stopped the game from selling at all.
KitGuru Says: Some publishers have had more success with microtransactions than others. EA has often come under fire for its use, and Battlefront II shows that the publisher still hasn't found the right balance. Take-Two on the other hand has been having plenty of success with little backlash. With that in mind, it is easy to see why Take-Two feels comfortable soldiering on, despite all of the noise going on at the moment.
This is another non-suprise. When you look at the things Strauss Zelnick has said in the past, talking about how GTAO players that don’t buy shark cards are theives, and how you need to “balance” how much is locked behind micro-transactions, otherwise we’ll, “know we know what [they’re] doing”.
Problem is though matey, in a post Battlefront II world, Red Dead Redemption 2 both not being on PC and having singleplayer micro-transactions is really, really not gonna fly.