There was a time, not too long ago, when players were broadly hostile towards microtransactions. Having to pay for a cosmetic or a special weapon in a single-player game was unthinkable, a blatant display of corporate greed, borderline extortion considering we were already paying for the full game. Why should we then have to shell out even more money for items that shouldn’t be locked behind a paywall in the first place?
But that was then, and this is now. Microtransactions are rife in everything we play, not just in free-to-play live-service games, but in premium priced single-player ones. Monster Hunter Wilds charges you to edit your character’s appearance. Dragon’s Dogma 2 added a bunch of microtransactions after reviews were published that were, arguably, pay-to-win, considering they allowed you to buy resources that were limited in the base game. Tekken 8 got a battle pass after launch. Apex Legends even managed to sneak microtransactions into its licensed board game.
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And, of course, there’s Assassin’s Creed, which has aggressively implemented microtransactions in every game since 2017’s Assassin’s Creed Origins, sneaking its shop into the game at every opportunity and completely breaking immersion so it can try to sell you a fancy spear. Again, these are games you’ve already paid full price for, trying to sell you even more stuff.
Does Anybody Even Care About Being Ripped Off Anymore?
It’s worrying, but not really surprising, that players are beginning to care less and less. We’ve just seen a call for microtransactions to be removed from Assassin’s Creed forever received with a shocking amount of apathy.
Some responses defended Ubisoft because, basically, it could be worse – you can grind out premium currency in the game, after all. Some responses said they don’t care, because they’re not being forced to buy them. Some said, well, the cosmetics are ugly or anachronous, so it’s not like people really want them that badly. Mind you, we were complaining about Valhalla’s microtransactions in 2021.
Some of the weapons you can buy in AC games are so wildly overpowered that they immediately make the game a cakewalk.
We’re now so used to microtransactions in our games that instead of kicking up a fuss like we used to, we’re not just shrugging our shoulders and moving on, we’re defending the studios doing it. We’re not angry at corporations for trying to hold us by our ankles and shake all the coins out of our pockets, we’re thanking them for permitting us to close our eyes to their attempts. It’s so incredibly, depressingly cynical that we’re all just collectively going, well, this is what gaming is like now. At least they’re not forcing us!
We Need To Get Mad About Microtransactions Again
I’ll be fair – it’s true that there are studios who implement microtransactions in more predatory ways than others. The ill-fated Marvel’s Avengers added blatantly pay-to-win mechanics, as did Escape From Tarkov and Diablo Immortal. I could keep going, but I’d just send myself into an existential spiral if I did.
But what we’re all overlooking is that these studios – usually big corporations that answer to shareholders – are motivated to make as much profit as possible, even if that means being blatantly anti-consumer. It doesn’t really matter if there’s worse out there, because studios can and will push players up to that line and past it if they’re allowed to. The studio’s job is to test the limits of what’s acceptable, making players angry about its business practices over and over again until they’re too tired to get mad anymore.
Corporations can’t make money if players refuse to capitulate. Repeatedly, we’ve seen that players’ voices have power. When they react in collective anger, these studios are more likely to back down because they’ve learned that the line isn’t worth toeing. We see this often with live-service games, like when Sony backed down on Helldivers 2 requiring PSN accounts, or when Marvel Rivals walked back its mid-season rank reset within a day, or even when Amazon removed pay-to-win elements from Throne and Liberty. Why not single-player games too?
Player power is very real, and we should be using it to make corporations rethink their anti-consumer practices instead of review bombing games for stupid reasons. For god’s sake, we can’t keep letting them get away with this.
Assassin’s Creed Shadows
- Released
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March 20, 2025
- ESRB
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Mature 17+ // Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language
- Developer(s)
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Ubisoft Quebec