Monetization Madness - How Games Make Money - Extra Credits

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Information Monetization Madness - How Games Make Money - Extra Credits

Title	:	Monetization Madness - How Games Make Money - Extra Credits
Lasting	:	9.17
Date of publication	:
Views	:	109 rb

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Comment from : Extra History

I know what an arcade is! Don't talk down to me!
Comment from : Sir Moony

I wish Destiny 2 hadn’t vaulted their paid content It doesn’t make a lot of sense, robbed the game of a lot of its story, and I just don’t want to play it now
Comment from : HMSquared

I don't mind watching a video/ad in game to get something to help game play but it needs to be worthwhile One game offers ad watching for in game currency, the problem is that you only get a small amount of currency so I don't watch the videos :)
Comment from : Squirrel G

thanks
Comment from : Adam Bright

A year late to this video, but a recent discussion on this made me curious and wondered if you guys knew the answer: brDoes the money from monetization get passed down to the design employees directly at all? With all the news about how some video game companies treat their employees like crap and the general practice among most other studios that they rely on their design team to have to work a lot and deal with crunch time and the like, potentially being underpaid or contractual employment brI know I'd be a lot more willing to use those monetization methods [especially the microtransactions] if the money went to the development team instead of just the company as a whole/the execs brIt's the design team that's creating the amazing worlds, stories, visuals and just general experiences that players love after all, and it's usually the higher ups that end up ruining parts of it by getting too focused on the deadline or making it cheaply to increase the bottom line and kind of screw over the team
Comment from : Samie

Let's yeet lootboxes, and any "pass" you pay for but can possibly not receive what you paid for because you didn't log in or meet in-game objectives
Comment from : Cyreth

pure premium with expansion packs is the only monetization i actually like you buy a complete experience upfront with optional additional experiences in the future
Comment from : kitrana

Honestly shareware still could be a viable option :-)
Comment from : Uhfgood

Lootboxes are evil
Comment from : Belthasar1990

How can you completely ignore web3 games?
Comment from : Dash Perú

I think I'm in the majority of people who started playing video games in the early 2000s in that I prefer premium games, am not averse to expansions and most DLC that's not horse armor, and think lootboxes and freemium games can go in a hole to die I believe microtransactions are only acceptable in free to play games, and only if they are non-predatory I don't really have an opinion on season passes and battle passes since I don't have much experience with them Most of my favourite games, some examples being Pokemon Platinum, Dragon Age: Inquisition, Sid Meier's Civilization 4, and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order are premium games, and some of them have expansions or DLC I also enjoy the occasional free to play game like Pokemon Go, which I haven't spent a dime on The only video game realated subscriptions I have are Pokemon Bank, Pokemon Home, and Nintendo Switch Online
Comment from : Colin Munro

I remember watching the stream where they talked about this
Comment from : ION Prod

Morning brew didn't ask me my timezonehmm
Comment from : GordWayne

remember, if you want easy money from a game, just add cosmetics
Comment from : Oreboat

To be fair, YouTube premium isn't ad free My feed is still peppered with promoted content that I can't mark as "not interested" or "don't recommend channel"
Comment from : Matthew Stinar

Is Destiny 2 really the worst with regards to the sheer number of monetisations schemes there can be? I thought that honour went to games like ESO or Fallout 76
Comment from : Giant Punda

"Thanks Capitalism, ugh" "Thanks so much to Morning Brew for helping us monetize this episode!" "A huge thanks to our patrons"brFor real, I'm glad that we can make games (and videos at that) ourselves and sell them as we like
Comment from : sonictimm

I dislike monetization and game design that can lead to habitual or compulsory spending, especially lootboxes Limited-time battle passes that use FOMO also rub me the wrong way I generally avoid free-to-play games because I fear I'd get addicted to thembrbrI prefer premium games, and I'm okay with expansions/DLC and direct microtransactions (ie pay $6, get new fighter) You can know almost exactly what you're getting If the game requires servers to keep running, I'm usually okay with a subscription, because servers cost more money to maintain the more they're usedbrbrThose are my thoughts!
Comment from : Caleb Willden

We remember you horse armor…
Comment from : Captian Nemo

World of warships has especially a good way of makikng money
Comment from : extreme9876

Its got trade offs but I like the paradox premium+dlc coupled with constant free updates Coupled with good mods the constant development keeps me coming back with somthing like x-com 2, with premium+ 1 expansion does not as much brbrThere are improvements i think I can see to paradox from an uniformed layman but idk
Comment from : marcus7564

Loot boxes are pure unadulterated and unregulated gambling, but with the odds not known and never revealed They are a cancer on the games industry and the sooner they are regulated or obliterated the better
Comment from : Rags Almighty

I got so fed up with freemium games, now i vow to not play anything "free"brbrI better enjoy the full experience and pay upfront
Comment from : Harpax A

505 videos in this playlist OO
Comment from : TinyGiraffes

The rhythm game Cytus has DLC song packs, but every million download they release the oldest one for free so that everyone can play them I never see any player get upset about it since the seasoned players usually have all 10 packs bought already and their attention would be on the newest pack I love how this generates hype and good PR while technically just lowkey ripping off DLC players
Comment from : 10 Seconds to Impact

give the box of loot the bootbrLoot boxes should be yeeted off a cliff also freemeium
Comment from : Samuel Berry

Maybe I am getting old But I always just get confused by modern games They have so many currencies, battle passes, XP etc that I just end up ignoring it all and hitting the play button It is just too much for me to spend the effort to even learn what benefit buying thing X would bring
Comment from : Dystopian Magic

It's Walpole!
Comment from : Jack Dalton

Could you pls make a mmorpg economy breakdown for a singular player? Like making money ultimate guide sort of thing
Comment from : Price less

That last question ignores WAY too much nuancebrFor example, DLC is fine in of itself but when the base game is cut down and/or the DLC costs more that the game itself, that's bad
Comment from : Adrian Ceroni

"Thanks, Capitalism?ughth" is a mood
Comment from : ginsengaddict

I am of the opinion DLC is the only good monetization after paying for the game Though I will say I don't fully understand battle passes so I'm on the fence about them
Comment from : Justin Archibald

Mortal Wombat really needs to be made
Comment from : John Ingham

Very surprised the Sims franchise wasn't mentioned Especially since they've recently updated their offerings to include "kits", in addition to the multiple sizes of DLC
Comment from : IANOYTYK

f2p gets too much hate, imobryou just dont have to pay upfront, the rest is up to you how much you pay, and for the past few years we've seen countless great f2p games, which meet, or even beat, the standards of some premium games
Comment from : That One Person, you know the one

I prefer premium games!
Comment from : CrazyMonkey VK

I stop playing games, between other reasons, mostly because of this monetization rotbrGames now feel incomplete on purpose and most of the money won by monetization goes to higher ups and investors
Comment from : Marcio Martins

No game should have a payment system like GTA V and Red Dead Redemption Online You don't buy itens, instead you buy money for the game Inflation makes your money worthless or an arbitrary level blocks you from buying what you want or enjoying the mini campaign they created for multiplayer
Comment from : Anderson Andrighi

I'm very much in the premium + dlc camp I do pay for ad removal on some f2p mobile games though
Comment from : krum1985

Microtransactions should be put under the same laws as drugs - as they basically prey on the same human behaviour If you want to make money as a game developer, provide a good product - otherwise get a real job
Comment from : blub232324

i love destiny 2 but the high seasonal grind wall and the monetization model drove me away from the game
Comment from : monolith mask

I learnt from my friend that dota had the first battle past ever :Obrlike or comment if you agree that lootboxes should be illegal
Comment from : Chippo Happo

You should use the example of star wars galaxy of heroes to show how out of control microtransactions can turn into macrotransactions to the scale of $150 to advance one of hundreds of characters up one relic level Downright gross and predatory by the developers( Capital Games/EA)
Comment from : J Seed

Unpopular opinion (I'm sure): loot boxes need to stay, but, they seriously need to be fixedbrbrTo start, don't lock certain things behind it, that requires you spend $50-60 on loot boxes (EA) But also, make sure that people have an idea of bwhat/b they can get Even if it's random each time, just let us know what the possible items arebrbrAnd, imo, kill it for anything below T rating for sure And, in fact, the ESRB should make that a requirement, that the games using some of these, can't be below a certain rating If only to avoid bigger issues in the processbrbrSeason/Game/Battle passes are a great idea though
Comment from : RyuuTenno

I prefer premium game I play games with other type of monetization but I think that lootboxes have to disappear If I wanted gambling, I would go into a casino
Comment from : CatherinePuce

I genuinely believe that games should remain a commodity you pay for upfront Microtransactions in general are so easy to abuse I genuinely have come to distrust any game that uses them
Comment from : Noah Levy

Question: does pre-purchase warrant a place on this list?
Comment from : Eli Carson

IMHO Loot Boxes are something to be yeeted into a black hole It is in fact: Gambling I Like the course of paradox with their games, they continously develop their games and give the new content in a DLC BUT! The vanilla game profits from it in getting updates, tweaks, and in multiplayer the DLCs of the Game host are counting, not those of the players So if you want to play a full game, just let the one with all the content host
Comment from : Nils-Roland Hopf

I stopped playing anything free They are always more expensive down the line They either make you pay with your time or your money or both They are predatory and the market plan is to make the consumer use all of their free time on that game brbrI prefer to pay for the complete package even if I don't manage to finish it all due to time It is not like I play triple a games
Comment from : hell no

I love the "thanks capitalisim"
Comment from : John Raven

Another thing that's worth mentioning is games that are free but have either an option to donate to the developer or an option to pay any amount for the game These are by far the least reliable monetization models, and I believe are mostly seen on small projects where income from the game is not a necessity for whatever reason (hobby game, person or people have sufficient revenue from other games, etc)
Comment from : Interesting_Failure

Lootboxes are pure evil and need to be yeeted off the tallest cliff into the deepest ocean They are quite literally gambling and have caused countless people to lose everything When the industry talks about 'whales' they aren't talking about rich people with money to burn, but people who suffer from gambling addiction, ADHA, autism, and countless other mental health issues They specifically target the neurodivergent and children, who have less impulse control
Comment from : DragonFae16

Personally like what Paradox is doing with DLC's Even those who don't buy the DLC still get some free content and updates, which is perfect for a game you've already paid forbrKeen does something like this with Space engineers: Each update comes with a bunch of free stuff, basically, everything functional is free, but merely aesthetic stuff is often part of a DLCbrBattlePass is another method I'm entirely ok with, specially in games i usually spend tons of time in and that have a rather competitive nature, such as World of Tanks
Comment from : Lizbeth Miguez

1:33 Great attention to detail As someone who grew up in the ass end of the arcade era, we used to say "I play winner" and put you quarter on the cab under the screen When 3rd strike came out there was no more space for quarters every day lol
Comment from : Failway

Premium GamesbrWith Meaty Expansions!/DLCs that are fairly priced
Comment from : Everyday Slow Mo

Premium + (proper) expansions and cosmetics which i dont care about but i know there are others who do so why not
Comment from : rvs1

Another add-on that can be added to many microtransaction/subscription/pass-type approaches is to make it transferable in-game for in-game currency (or, equivalently, bought with a "premium" currency that can be traded with other players for the normal game currency) That way, low-budget players can still get some of the monetization-locked content in a way that still ends up with the developer getting paid It does often (depending on the game) require care to avoid a "pay to win" resultthough most games with in-game currency that lasts between sessions tend not to have "pay to win" in the same sense anyway
Comment from : Yitzhak Kornbluth

If i have to pay, I would want only premium, I am totally against any FOMO or microtransactions
Comment from : Emanuel Martins

Destiny 2 is actually pretty good Theres a lot of cosmetic microtransactions, but there's no pay-to-win aspects
Comment from : Jake Ewen

thanks for educating people on this too many are confused and get taken in by predatory practices of some of these kinds of monetization now if we could just get companies to stop putting gambling in games aimed at children we would be good
Comment from : TheCreepypro

I read a lot of rage agains some monetisation forms (and some deserve it) BUT the truth is that we players are rarely ready to pay the full cost of games upfrontbr- The premium game price tag still revolves around 60€/80$ since more than 20 years for AAA titles, even though production cost and inflation should have raised that cost, so money has to come from *somewhere*br- For more indie games, the production cost is lower but the price tag sinks as well as the revenue, especially once you remove the cut taken by the distribution platform (looking at you Steam)br- Of course online games have to additionally assume the recurring costs of maintaining the infrastructure/servers to keep the game running
Comment from : Rémi S

You forgot NFT Where a game uses Ponzi schemes to monetize
Comment from : Socute Raptor

Kill the gatcha
Comment from : Polloman15

ltc
Comment from : Lincoln Oliveira

I feel like this topic deserves its own examination of the development of pre-ordering and some good and fallout 76 level examples
Comment from : Jim H

They can’t keep making games better while also still charging $60 or less
Comment from : Donte DiMora

Your animations are so good! I loved the Hitchhiker's Guide and Polybius references!
Comment from : Zac Monnier

as a indie dev, simple Premium game style with the some DLC is all good by me
Comment from : Diceyed

I love the TES4 reference Classic
Comment from : Tannis Bhee

The other important factor that developers (and publishers) must consider are the costs related to the game The premium model was sufficient for a traditional offline single player games, but for modern multiplayer online games there is a cost which is incurred each time a player plays the game Ongoing costs means there must be an ongoing revenue stream (which is hopefully sufficient to cover those costs, eg Glitch)
Comment from : DarkAlly123

Make great content, get money!
Comment from : Ryan

I think you should have explored more what happens when monetization doesn't workbrMentioning Faeria, Artifact and DuelystbrbrBecause one side of the coin are predatory practices, and other side is studios having to shut down really fun titles, because they don't make enough moneybrOr not having money to develop sequels, expansions, patches etc for titles that really could use them
Comment from : Łukasz S

The art is good in itself, but too busy and detailed for the <1 sec it's displayed on the screen
Comment from : CIinbox

I say yeet all the predatory ones, meaning all the ones relying on the fear of missing out and manipulating the player by making the game a worse experience without them and so onbrbrThey only harm the players, the games, and the medium as a whole, while grossly enriching publishers at the cost of real harm to people It's awful and I don't buy games like that Meaning I buy very few games
Comment from : Probably the DM

Dota 2 STYLE FREE TO PLAY PLS
Comment from : Yanko Kutin

Season Pass (annual, content, RPG) and Battle Pass (monthly, cosmetic, FPS) are both good options so far as I've seen
Comment from : Ben Godsey

i prefer games that are "fully made" with optional dlc's that add lots of stuff to game notlike BL3 that gives tiny drops of beep :P best game? minecraft infinite content for little pay! :D (with optional donations to creators)
Comment from : Shinarock

Subscription-models have lost a lot of popularity since ye olde days of subscription-based MMO's I find that rather regrettable, since - along with plain old Premium with optional Expansions - it's about the only model I have anything other than purely negative feelings about Freemium, microtransactions, lootboxes those all guide game-design down a dark path, inevitably focusing on using addiction-mechanics, deliberately frustrating gameplay-balance and social pressure to make people pay more than the game could ever be worthbrbrBut because of that, those models all pay out way more than subscriptions ever do So of course, that's where all the developers went I hate capitalism so, so much It should never have been let within a hundred yards of ANY form of art
Comment from : Christian Thøgersen

You forgot free games that run on donations
Comment from : Rachel Evans

There should be a rule that you can get duplicates from a loot box ONLY if all other items are unlocked
Comment from : M Banerjee

You should really look into Axie Infinity
Comment from : K Drongo

I will personally avoid any game that has recurring spending, especially if the game is already premium As for expansions and DLC, it depends on how they're implemented; they need to hit a sweet spot of being substantial enough that think they'll be worth the cost, while not feeling so vital like they should've been part of the main game
Comment from : Qwerbey

comment for the almighty algorithm !!
Comment from : morinc75

My first year playing Team Fortress 2, I spent over $100 on keys for Mann co supply crates All I got were bad stranges
Comment from : Cliff Cardi

I like my gacha games
Comment from : Sakana～さかのぼる魚です

Loot box for noncosmetic item and season passes should be yeetedbrSeason passes are fineuntil a game is not as popular as the dev had hoped and they just give up on their commitments half way through the season
Comment from : Savin Wangtal

I typically prefere to pay up front for my games Some free to play games are ok, but if it at any point becomes aparent that it's going to be microtransaction hell to keep playing I will uninstall that game on the spot
Comment from : Jakob Rosenqvist