Apparently, financial troubles are not limited to "Need for Speed: Payback's" protagonists. The game's developer is also having them, as revealed in their defense of the microtransaction options for the racing game.
Marcus Nilsson, Executive Producer at Ghost Games, the games developer studio, has stated that making video games have become more expensive over the years, which is why microtransactions for a full-priced game are justified. Nilsson has claimed that a lot of people today do not play video games as much as the previous generations, which is unfortunate since engagement is important for them.
"The bottom line is that it's very hard to find this golden path that's liked by everyone. We make games that are $60 and some might think that it's worth $40. What's the value in the package delivered? Something like "GTA 5" and "GTA Online" versus "The Last of Us," which you can play through in 10 hours. How do we value that? That's probably a long discussion," said Nilsson.
Gaming Bolt, on the other hand, disagrees with Nilsson, and they have argued that developers have found a way to cut costs through digital distribution and marketing. Still, Nilsson has stated that the monetization in "Payback" would not be too invasive, though doubts have surfaced due to the recent microtransaction controversies of "Star Wars Battlefront II" and "Mass Effect: Andromeda," both from Electronic Arts (EA), the same publishing company that released "Need for Speed: Payback."
A lot of fans and gamers see the inclusion of in-game microtransactions with a stigma, as the companies who implement them in their games are seen as greedy and anti-consumer. Microtransactions range from in-game items, weapons, or armor being available only in exchange for real-world money, or exclusive content that needs to be paid for. These microtransactions are costs on top of the full price of the game, its paid downloadable contents (DLC), and expansion packs, easily doubling or tripling the price of a title.
Some gamers even suspect that other companies or developers purposely cut out some content from games in order to sell them separately as microtransactions or DLCs.
"Need for Speed: Payback" is set to be released on Nov. 10 for the PC, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4, and is expected to have microtransactions as well.
