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Publishers have been putting a lot of time and effort into finding new ways to sell microtransactions to gamers. Some games have managed to get it right, while others have fallen flat and drawn criticism for it. Activision has become the latest example of this, as the publisher recently patented a new matchmaking system designed to make players want to spend more money on microtransactions.
With Activision’s newly patented microtransaction system, players would be paired with those who have premium items. The idea is that the more often you see other players walking around with rare gear, the more likely you are to spend money to obtain your own. Here is the exact wording straight from the patent:
“A system and method is provided that drives microtransactions in multiplayer video games. The system may arrange matches to influence game-related purchases. For instance, the system may match a more expert/marquee player with a junior player to encourage the junior player to make game-related purchases of items possessed/used by the marquee player. A junior player may wish to emulate the marquee player by obtaining weapons or other items used by the marquee player.”
Bungie Community Manager ‘Deej’ has already spoken out on Twitter to confirm that this functionality is not present in Destiny. Activision has also issued its own statement, saying that the patent was filed back in 2015 by an independent research and development team not connected to any particular studio. The patent was only just granted, which is why we are starting to hear about It now.
Apparently, this system is not yet in place in any Activision game. However, it sounds like the sort of thing the publisher will try to implement in Call of Duty to sell more ‘Supply Drop’ crates. There is no evidence that this system is already in play, but now that the secret is out, players will almost certainly be on the lookout for it.
KitGuru Says: This system has already drawn plenty of criticism for being manipulative. It does go to show how far publishers are willing to go to squeeze more money out of players. How do you guys feel about this new matchmaking system from Activision?
well thats another game company i’ll no longer support.
Call of duty….a game franchise that is on its WAY OUT! Bit like ISIS….crying its last death throes!
Activisio + EA, no sales via my wallet from now on.
Whoever buys from EA, Activision, Ubisoft and Rockstar Games is a “casual sheep mouthbreeder”. This is what it has become from so many sheep-casual peasants. NONE of the games that come out of those AAA-grabbers are actually good. They have made NO progress since the start of 21st century and they won’t as long as you feed them. Support the indie, not the big whales.
Once I buy a game for the inflated prices they try to push on us with those premium packs ( you know get 2 extra skins for $19.99 type crap.) I do not intend to spend more money on the game after paying for it unless it has DLC that is worth it. Even then when you see a game released and 1 to 2 weeks later you see DLC content it makes you wonder why that content was not part of the game release because clearly it was supposed to be when they designed it.
If the DLC comes a month down the road and actually adds value to the game then I am on board with that and don’t mind spending a few bucks to get it. Another thing that to me at least just my own opinion is those season passes they like to sell the kiddies they are just cash grabs designed to suck your wallet dry.
Now with these Micro transactions becoming a thing I am a bit worried that at some point they will make it so you have to buy them to be able to finish the game. At this point it is up to you if you want to spend money on this type of thing but as they get braver in the future it could become not a choice but a forced buy in.
I wish more people would just refuse to do the micro transactions that way maybe we could move past this crap. I am sorry but I do not need my armor to look more pretty just so I can flash my bling bling around if my regular armor or other equipment does it’s job that is good with me.
Forget about a fair match, just throw some expert player in with a newbie because one has nice skins and the other doesn’t…
And neither player would enjoy that, surely? Which will make people just flat out not buy the game at all.
I had over 600 skins for Quake II, because they were free in those days, if you wanted a cool skin you downloaded it or made it yourself, you didn’t pay £5-10 a pop >.>