Oceans of physical and digital ink have been written on the microtransactions in video games. They have taken many forms over the years: from DLCs and expansions to coin packs to buy items in the in-game shops.
The most controversial microtransactions were loot boxes. Although games like Overwatch, Rocket League y FIFA they abused their fans with them to unsuspected limits, it was Star Wars: Battlefront II who ended up taking the cat into the water. It was a very serious legal issue for Electronic Arts, so much so that they were pressured by Disney to fix the mess.
Since then, companies have cut back a bit when it comes to crafting microtransactions… until they found other ways to abuse buyers. While this was happening, companies like Ubisoft they continued to push the boundaries with microtransactions that offered experience boosts in Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Ghost Recon Breakpoint.
It was Epic Games with Fortnite (of course) who had an overwhelming success by exploiting a vein that until then was in the background: selling packs of an internal currency (V-Bucks) in exchange for cosmetic elements such as skins, camouflages and other accessories that do not directly affect gameplay in most cases. And it goes without saying that many companies jumped on the bandwagon.
Microtransactions with very little micro in Diablo IV
Diablo fans breathed easy when Blizzard confirmed that Diablo IV would only offer paid cosmetics through their internal currency. Although many of us knew that the company was going to follow a path that Epic Games and Bungie have been traveling for some time with Fortnite and Destiny 2, to mention two known examples.
The price of the skins in Diablo IV it is absurd and it is enough to take a quick look at the store to realize the real prices. In order for anyone to understand, I’m going to use several images and a fairly simple example that can be applied to most. Below you can see the prices of the currency in dollars.
Imagine that you want to buy the skin Heretical Ritual (5 pieces) for your Sorceress. Its price is among the lowest with respect to skins: 1,400 coins. Almost no armor skin (if not any) costs 1000 coins, which would be 10 dollars… something quite reasonable in my opinion. The trap (old as the wheel) is to force us to buy:
- A pack of 24.99 dollars (2500 + 300 coins). There are 1400 coins left over.
- Of the packs of 9.99 dollars (2000 coins). There are 600 coins left over.
- A pack of 9.99 dollars and one of 4.99 dollars (1500 coins). There are 100 coins left over.
- A pack of 9.99 dollars and two of 1.99 dollars (1400 coins) to have the exact figure.
In any case, we have to pay between 15 and 25 dollars to have the Heretic Ritual skin. This means that the cheapest armor skins for Diablo IV are around 15-20 dollars approx and it is the minimum that we are going to spend in the best of cases. The Best offer It would be to buy the pack of 24.99 dollars to acquire two skins of 1,400 coins, which means that we would pay 12.50 for each one. Standalone decorations like back items usually cost 600 coins.
Things get complicated when we talk about the most expensive skins (and cool): “El León de Arreat” (2,200 coins), “Crianza entre Lobos” (2,500 coins) and “Señor de las Ánimas” (2,800 coins). In this case, we are paying 25 dollars for a skin of armor and weapons (8-9 pieces). In the best of cases we have 600 coins left over and in the worst none.
I support those who argue that they are not compulsory purchases and that it is better to ignore them. In an ideal world, the prices of currency and skins would end up going down because no one would buy them. But we do not live in an ideal world. I remind you that we are paying 70 dollars (minimum) for the game and that Blizzard will charge us both for the seasons with their battle passes and for possible expansions that arrive in the future.
Fortnite y Destiny 2 they do the exact same thing in their stores, but at least their base experiences are free. Despite this, Bungie is not a saint either: it charges expansions at video game prices and the seasons are not included in all editions; and evidently his store follows the same philosophy. Do the same calculations that we have done with Diablo IV and you will see a similar average price.
Cordyceps Pack: 2500 (reduced) = 25-30 dollars without Silver saved.
That the average price of a skin requires in coins the equivalent of 20 dollars on average it’s nonsense, regardless of whether it’s optional content. It’s great that there are people who can ignore these microtransactions, but the harsh reality is that there are a huge number that will end up at the checkout. And we better not talk about the wonderful world of CS:GO and Valorant weapon and knife skins!
The ugly part of the matter is that more and more people see normal to pay that amount for a skin. And the more accepted, the more video games will join the party and the companies will soon give it another push to the priceLet’s see how far they can push before another Star Wars: Battlefront II happens.
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