Recently there has been a lot of controversy surrounding microtransactions.
You may have heard about the Star Wars Battlefront II fiasco where EA temporarily pulled the game's microtransactions, following a large backlash. If you go on Facebook and Twitter, there are numerous posts expressing outrage and vowing boycotts. While that's just a small subsection of the gaming community, how do others feel?
LendEDU, a marketplace for students where they can find loans and other financial advice, just published a new poll that questioned gamers about in-game microtransactions and their impact on their finances. LendEDU wanted to gauge their overall feelings about pay-to-play content. Questions were asked to 500 carefully selected respondents who were dedicated gamers that played both multiplayer and single-player games on a regular basis.
Contrary to popular belief, individuals in LendEDU's sample weren't outraged and supported microtransactions. The view is that they add value to a game. Many are willing to spend an additional $100 to $200 on additional content each year. This is definitely surprising news given the recent outcry. Some of the highlights from the poll are listed below.
- 56.6 percent of gamers think the current paid downloadable content system is beneficial to gaming.
- 80.4 percent of gamers won't stop buying games that come with microtransactions.
- 40.4 percent of gamers think all paid downloadable content should be allowed in online play.
There are other interesting details in the poll as well like how 57.6 percent of gamers would rather spend the standard $60 for a game and have the option to pay for downloadable content. While the sample size is relatively small, the trend runs in contradiction to the narrative that the majority of gamers are against them. Clearly, publishers feel this way too, and it could be why micropayments remain a growing trend.
How do you feel about them? Let us know in the comments.
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