Is 2020 the year this trend ends?
We’re entering a new era of loot box legislation, where watch dogs actually have an eye on these sorts of things: is there a chance 2020 could be a “cleaner” year for microtransactions in what are ostensibly single-player experiences? Maybe.
We saw a glimmer of hope with Torchlight III completely dropping any pretense of it being a free-to-play, microtransaction-fueled entry, and at the very least, Bethesda isn’t getting greedy with Doom Eternal like they were with Fallout 76. So they’re meeting the bare minimum expectations, really.
As seen in the Doom 2016/Eternal Fan Club on Facebook, creative director Hugo Martin noted that Doom Eternal is a “$60 game,” that is “not free-to-play or a mobile game,” with a “complete experience with no store.” Good! Doom wouldn’t feel right with that nonsense in it, and we already had to go on a roller coaster ride with the new trilogy.
Will forced, greedy microtransactions in games that have no business hosting them end in 2020? Probably not, where there’s money to be made. But I hope the trend dies down. So far, we have a few beacons of hope.
Doom 2016/Eternal Fan Club [Facebook via Reddit]
