The Economy of a Video Game: What Are We Paying For?

One of the interesting things about modern video games that makes them particularly interactive and immersive is their in-game economy. In many games, certain economic systems allow players to buy, sell, trade, and earn virtual in-game items or services. These include weapons, skins, potions, skills, assistance, missions, and so on.

While this might sound boring – like, don’t we have enough of this in our real lives? – most games are quite good at creating engaging and complicated systems that feel fun to tackle and can give some considerable advantage to players who master the art of earning and trading well. Some people are naturally into such things and enjoy it in their video games.

Interestingly enough, the general impact of these in-game economies is very profound and reaches beyond the means of entertainment even if players are unaware of that. The desire to succeed in a video game can be fun but at some point, this may interfere very much with the real financial situation. As a result, these in-game economies may impact the player even when they aren’t playing, and also influence the whole communities of players.

Modern video games have intricate mechanisms and systems, and their economies have already evolved into real marketplaces. They influence the industry greatly, and their influence continues to expand to other spheres.

The Role of Microtransactions in Video Games

The success of an in-game economy for each player depends heavily on their initial willingness to deposit into it. Simply paying for access to the game is not enough today to get the full capacity in its economy, or at least you’ll be probably struggling more than players ready to chip in a little bit more to instantly get a boost.

One of the mechanisms hidden behind the buying and trading of valuable in-game items is microtransactions. These deposits by players have a powerful and lasting effect and have already reshaped all kinds of player experiences. Interestingly enough, microtransactions are undeniably beneficial for publishers, but their advantages for players come with layers of hidden drawbacks. This is why, while microtransactions don’t seem to go anywhere in the near future, they have sparked heated discussions.

While microtransactions fuel this in-game economy and allow players to get even more from the game’s mechanics, buying extra items, and enjoying extra content, the problem is… there are plenty of extra problems that come along.

Being able to chip in extra means you put less effort into the game and just storm through it. So, why would anyone put extra effort into developing a complicated game in the first place? Game publishers have already shown some reluctance and released a couple of poorly designed products built around the player’s ability and willingness to pay to progress, instead of really dealing with the complexities of the game to overcome it.

When the game design is shaped accordingly, as a result, we get a poor game, impossible to play if we do not pay extra all the time.

The bigger picture is that other players, who do not want to pay extra or cannot afford it but who have paid full price for access to the game get a poorly designed, unengaging product that is simply not created for their needs and the needs were, well, playing a quality game. Enjoying an escape.

Instead, they get a type of gambling, way more elusive than any decent and reliable Apple Pay online casino like the ones represented on CasinosHunter would even offer to their customers because no video game admits that it has gambling mechanisms in it. Instead of paying once, they are expected to pay repeatedly to enjoy the game.

If they have their e-wallets, like Apple Pay or MuchBetter or whatever, connected to the video game account, these small payments become almost streamlined, causing financial losses that might be even bigger than from playing any online casino game. Why? Because they are unnoticeable.

Paying in Video Games: Final Thoughts 

There are three key problems with in-game economies that demand microtransactions. Firstly, they streamline small payments and make people constantly chip in repeatedly, resulting in huge bills out of nowhere.

Secondly, most games utilize in-game currencies, gems, or analogies. When you want to buy something in the game, you must first buy in-game currency and only then buy what you want. But the problem with in-game currency is that its exchange rate is never digestible enough to quickly calculate how much something costs in real money. It is never 1 to 1 or 1 to 10 but rather 1 to 3,9846 or something ridiculous. Players usually quit counting very quickly and as a result, they are very surprised when their real bills arrive.

And eventually, video games today pretend that microtransactions and paying extra now and then to simply progress in a game are normal. This is part of the in-game mechanics and how the game functions. Soon, we will have a new generation of players who believe this is just how video games work but this is not true. Only several years ago we could just buy content behind the paywall, get forever access with all bug fixing and updates and this was it.

It would be nice if video game publishers kept that in mind. 

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Edward Clayton

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