I don’t know about you all, but I seriously believe that the advent of microtransactions was one of the worst things to ever happen to video games. The moment large developers and publishers found out that they could make more money selling digital junk in their games than selling the actual games themselves is the moment that the business end completely took the reigns of the AAA industry (in my humble opinion). Yet, there is hope. The fight against this awful practice isn’t over, with a big victory coming just a few days ago.

As reported by MP1st.com, the EU Commission has decided to ban in-game currencies that hide the real cost of microtransactions. So stuff like FC Points, Shark Cards, and (perhaps most importantly) V-Bucks will soon no longer be legal within EU countries. The storefronts and business models will still be intact, but at least people will (hopefully) be more aware about just how much money they’re spending on these items.

I remember the really early days of this stuff, you know, th Microsoft Points era. Back then, if you wanted to buy a digital game or a piece of DLC, you first had to buy some Microsoft Points. These of course were sold in pre-determined denominations meant to ensure there were always just enough left over to make you feel like you had to buy more. Come to think of it, I’m pretty sure Nintendo did something very similar with its Virtual Console and Wii Shop Channel. They were horrible systems and I’m certain I can speak for all of us when I say it was a relief that they finally knocked that crap off.

The thing is, I thought that Microsoft had gotten into trouble legally and was forced to change, but then that wouldn’t explain why the likes of Fortnite have been able to do it for years and years now. I’d like to see microtransactions go away entirely, but it’s at least nice to see that these companies have one fewer method of lying to/ manipulating their (often very young) customers. Will players still spend stupid amounts of money on these games? Absolutely (unfortunately). But, at least they’ll know what they’re spending.

I’ve said many times before that the only way this stuff goes away is if people stop whaling for these companies, but that’s an unrealistic wish. Also, it wrongfully shifts blame away from these developers/publishers that purposely design their games to be as grindy, addictive and psychologically manipulative as they legally can in order to squeeze as many pennies as they possibly can out of their fans.

This move by the EU Commission is definitely a win, and I really hope it doesn’t stop here.

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What do you think of this development? What’s your take on microtransactions (or rather full in-game purchases) in modern video games?

Image from the Steam page