monetization
Lord of the Rings Online hopes to start rolling out monetization changes in the next year
One of the longstanding criticisms of Lord of the Rings Online revolves around the game's antiquated and frankly expensive business model. We found out...
The Soapbox: Pokemon Unite’s monetization is gross and threatens a competent game
By now, you've probably seen several articles about the poor monetization in Pokemon Unite, often based on Reddit posts or streamer hot takes. Most talk...
GDC 2021: Biometrics, advertising, and charming communities in video games
While other gaming conventions do big game reveals, the beauty of GDC is that we hear about some of the cool tech and practices...
The Soapbox: MMO monetization that complements poor game design makes us all losers
I have a problem: As much as I enjoy games, I can see that many online and multiplayer games are becoming designed more poorly...
Massively on the Go: Mother Nintendo should make Niantic Earthbound
So, Nintendo and Niantic will work together for more AR games based on Nintendo IPs. No great surprise from me, as I'd mentioned years...
The Soapbox: How Magic Legends went wrong with the Dimir Assassin class
Cryptic and Perfect World Entertainment are known for their love of lockboxes as a monetization strategy. Therefore it was not wholly surprising when Magic:...
Massively on the Go: Why Nintendo and Pikmin make sense in Niantic’s hands
With the recent news that Nintendo and Niantic will work together for more AR games based on Nintendo IPs, I thought it might be...
Massively on the Go: Understanding what an MMO community will pay for
Earlier in December, I posted some Pokemon Go news that included player complaints about a recent Mr. Rime paid event. While there was a good...
EA’s advertisement of FIFA lockboxes in a children’s toy catalogue draws mounting criticism
It would appear that Electronic Arts didn't learn from the last time it pulled this kind of nonsense, but apparently there was still fuel...
The Daily Grind: What’s the most annoying ‘dark pattern’ in MMO gaming?
I've been kind of obsessed with dark patterns - that is, intentionally deceptive or annoying interface design - for kind of a while now,...
GDC Summer 2020: Gachapon reward models in (mostly) free-to-play games
Let's be real: Some of the panel titles at GDC Summer 2020 are unintentionally misleading. For example, the "Evolution of Gacha Systems in Mobile...
Fallout 76 clarifies that seasons will be free, with some potential Fallout 1st bonuses in the future
If there's one thing that Fallout 76 does remarkably well, it's making people angry about the way the game is monetized, all the way back...
The Culling returns, again, with an eyebrow-raising new business model
You all remember The Culling and The Culling 2, right? Xaviant Games tried to launch game-show-themed battle royale The Culling 2 back in 2018,...
Superdata says in-game spending is down thanks to gamers’ leeriness of monetization schemes
This news will very likely elicit replies of "well, duh" from many, but now there are numbers from Superdata to back it up: Overall...
Desert Oasis: Discerning the best purchases in Black Desert’s cash shop
I've always been someone who goes against the grain, and MMOs are no exception. Part of the reason I enjoy Black Desert so much is...
RuneScape’s new Executive Producer talks monetization as Halloween arrives to Old School
It's a transition week for RuneScape as Jagex has appointed a new Executive Producer for the game: Ryan "Mod Warden" Ward. It's a comfort,...
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare eschews lockbox monetization for a battle pass
Arguably one of the bigger online multiplayer shooters coming down the pike is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, just by mere dint of its...
Tamriel Infinium: Things we wish were in Elder Scrolls Online’s cash shop (but aren’t)
Convenience items in the cash shop are nothing new in The Elder Scrolls Online. ZeniMax has been selling experience boosts and mount training accelerators...
Apex Legends boss apologizes for Reddit dust-up, but there’ll be no auto-da-fé for the devs
It was just a matter of time before the apology came out - we all know how this script goes.
Yesterday we covered the weekend...
Leaderboard: Does the ESA’s new transparent lockbox policy go far enough?
Last week, just as the FTC's video games monetization abuse investigation got underway, the ESA announced that many of the major and minor games...
