monetization
Mobile shooter Destiny Rising will offer rebates and rewards to players who spend money in next closed beta
We often argue that when a beta test starts asking its players for money, then it's probably less like a test and more like...
Star Citizen’s new cash shop offerings provoked fresh pay-to-win and predatory monetization accusations
The Invictus Launch Week free-fly event of Star Citizen is usually meant to be a time of celebration; a way to try out ships...
Vague Patch Notes: What makes MMO monetization predatory?
I am really, really excited to be writing our limited series over in Gachapwned because I feel it's going to be an interesting deep-dive...
Diablo IV players sound the alarm over the stingier rewards in Season 8’s battle pass
If you were suspicious that the multitude of feature highlights across major games media sites for Diablo IV's newly released season was a smokescreen,...
BitCraft Online will be $30 in early access but F2P at launch
The in-development sandbox MMORPG BitCraft has discussed its monetization plans before, but those were more conceptual than anything that was fully decided. That was...
World of Warcraft is selling a $90 dino mount to ‘celebrate’ its 20th birthday
The Warcraft franchise has been around for 30 years, and so maybe you feel like you have just ridden on as many bats, gryphons,...
Prices and probabilities for Once Human’s latest lockbox ‘event’ prompt calls for a player boycott
Last week saw survival shooter Once Human put forth its latest update, which Starry Studio said was chiefly focused on the addition of a...
PSA: Embers Adrift’s sale price will remain in effect ‘for the foreseeable future’
With the July and August summer celebration events now in the rearview mirror, one would assume that the $20 sale price to buy the...
Apex Legends slightly reels back battle pass changes after players revolt on Steam
Respawn Entertainment can now add its name to the dubious list of companies that screwed around and found out in very short order. At...
Fight or Kite: Hey now, you’re Brawl Stars, get your game on, go play
A couple of weeks ago, I was at a birthday party when my nephew tugged on my sleeve and asked me if I still...
Game devs are concerned about the sustainability of live-service titles
It certainly feels like live service is being tacked on to many recent game releases (whether it makes sense or not), which of course...
Global MapleStory resolves to ‘follow its own direction’ away from Korean version parity
Western fans of MapleStory have some understandable concerns about the future of their favorite cutesy MMO following news from the Korean version, specifically Nexon's...
Co-op third-person shooter Helldivers 2 promises a focus on ‘earning the right to monetize’ its players
Last week was a pretty big deal for fans of co-op action shooters, as Helldivers 2 made what looks to be a pretty triumphant...
Pax Dei ponders a box price with sub monetization balanced with a free trial and possible game time tokens
Where does the developing sandbox MMO Pax Dei stand on monetization? "Well, we’re sorry to say we haven’t figured it all out —...
Fight or Kite: Love anime, mechs, and battle royale? Super Mecha Champions is probably for you
If you’re anything like me, you love a good, dumb battle against other players. You also love all kinds of action anime. Maybe even...
The Daily Grind: Are you inured to MMO whaling and exploitative monetization?
Back in July, MOP reader Neowolf made an insightful comment about excessive monetization exploitation and MMO whaling - that is, MMOs targeting big-spenders with...
RuneScape’s Jagex on the much-derided battlepass: ‘We messed up’
All week, we've been covering the chaos brewing over in the RuneScape community as players have put up a strong protest against Jagex's new...
Player feedback (and a blast of review bombing) forces World of Warships to overhaul event rewards
World of Warships players have apparently joined the throngs of gaming review bombers and are taking to Steam reviews to voice their displeasure with...
EVE Online removes a contentious item from a cash shop bundle after player backlash
CCP Games decided to once again test the patience of the EVE Online playerbase this week after the studio offered - and then removed...
Blizzard promises a fix for Diablo IV’s season battle pass ‘dark pattern’ after widespread player complaints
Among the many complaints that players are leveraging against Diablo IV, one of them is arguably far more serious than class nerfs: a bit...
