Every Take-Two game will have microtransactions from now on

[Madmick]

Take-Two are wholeheartedly embracing the games-as-services model, and plan to only release games with “some ability to engage on an ongoing basis” and “recurrent consumer spending” options - that is, microtransactions - from now on.

In an earnings call with investors yesterday, CEO Strauss Zelnick cites Grand Theft Auto V as the example that justifies this strategy.

Thanks largely to its online component (and some re-releases), that game has now sold 85 million units - more than the entire Legend of Zelda and Tom Clancy series, which have managed roughly 82 million across all their games. When you consider the size of that install base and the number of opportunities for “recurrent consumer spending” in GTA Online, Take-Two and developers Rockstar must be making a staggering amount of money.

Hence - after a brief nod to the “online component” in Red Dead Redemption II - Zelnick goes on to say that:

“We aim to have recurrent consumer spending options for every title that we put out at this company. It may not always be an online model. It probably won't always be a virtual currency model, but there'll be some ability to engage on an ongoing basis with our titles after release across the board.

“That's a sea change in our business. Recurrent consumer spending is 42% of our net bookings in the quarter. It's been transformative for us, and the only reason it's transformative for us is because it's transformative to our consumers. The business that once upon a time was a big, chunky opportunity to engage for tens of hours, or perhaps 100 hours, has turned into ongoing engagement, day-after-day, week-after-week. You fall in love with these titles and they become part of your daily life.”

This trend has been developing for a while - digital revenue has accounted for an ever larger chunk of the big publishers' profits over the last few years. In their last earnings call, EA's chief financial officer Blake Jorgensen said “we're finding [unit sales] are becoming less and less meaningful to us... we're working on live service models on many of our games.” Over at Activision-Blizzard, an exec says “in-game services, features, and content continue to be a recurring driver for our business, resulting in a Q3 record of over $1 billion for in-game purchases and record year-to-date performance.”

It's painful to hear the era of finite videogames prefaced with “once upon a time.” Apart from any affection one might feel for discrete experiences like this, I'm pretty sure I don't have time for more than one or two ongoing games in my life. That's why I'm sceptical there's as much growth in this area as the publishers are assuming, but hey, I'm no analyst. What do you think?

The "Games as a Service" model has won, completely.

Here is their Wiki homepage:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take-Two_Interactive

Here is the Wiki with their library of games:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Take-Two_Interactive_video_games

 

[LuchaBear]

"We're finding [unit sales] are becoming less and less meaningful to us."

= We figured out how to squeeze more money out of you puppets.

 

[HereticBD]

Thanks, Generation Retard.

Next up:

"Games are a very costly endeavor for any developer, and a lot of times, it's just not cost effective to release complete games. This is why we are moving towards a more fragmented release model. It's also exciting news for gamers, as their favorite titles will now have new, and expansive content every six months. We really believe this decision is the best one for developers and gamers."

 

[jefferz]

Coming to the next GTA "you were falsely arrested by crooked cops, pay $2.99 or your character is locked for 12 hours"

 

[Fraz]

Great news, i can't wait until we're paying $1.99 to progress to the next story mission or maybe a small $0.49 fee to load a save file.

 

[method115]

I don't mind micro-transactions as long as they are cosmetic or something similar to that. I understand these game companies have to find ways to make more money but sometimes they can overreach so to speak.

 

[Rod1]

Free market at its best.

Thats why i gave up on big name games, they are a scam.

 

[ThulsaDooom]

Outside of Rockstar and the Bioshock games, Take Two's releases have been really mediocre for the most part. The NBA 2K games have been loaded with bullshit for years yet people still eat those games up year after year.

Console gamers already gave in to paying to play online which I find much grosser than microtransactions.

Free market at its best.

Thats why i gave up on big name games, they are a scam.

They really aren't but whatever fits your narrative.

 

[SwamiLeoni]

Hasat 'Agent' game by Rockstar for the PS3 just been delayed for years? I didn't know dev's were still developing new games for that system.

 

[Rod1]

They really aren't but whatever fits your narrative.

At release they certainly are, after a year when the GOTY or w/e edition that contains the complete game is on sale, its a good buy.

 

[SwamiLeoni]

I don't mind micro-transactions as long as they are cosmetic or something similar to that. I understand these game companies have to find ways to make more money but sometimes they can overreach so to speak.

Exactly. Street Fight learned the hard way by selling multiple iterations of SFIV. What happened was that it split the fan base because people didn’t want to shell out more money for the same game with a few added characters and stages. I honestly like what they’re doing now. It’s a running joke that Capcom will eventually have 5 SFV games (i.e; USSFV:AE) but they promised that the vanilla SFV disc is the only disc you will need. They also sell different passes throughout the year (Season Pass / Capcom Pro Tour Pass) that you can buy in a bundle. Many of the added features for SFV:AE will be free to people who already own the disc which is an added bonus (Arcade / Story Mode 2 / Different mini games). That is great customer service even though it took them 2 years to get it down. They’re finally delivering.

I would on the other hand hate to pay for a AAA game at $60 to know that I will not finish it without forking over more money. I would not be upset that if that same AAA announced early enough that the disc was only for ‘Chapter 1’ out of 2 or 3 and those chapters would come later as added content. You would only need to own the first game. Skins / Characters / Colors / Weapons are all ok by me as a micro-transaction.

 

[GhostZ06]

I don't mind micro-transactions as long as they are cosmetic or something similar to that. I understand these game companies have to find ways to make more money but sometimes they can overreach so to speak.

yeah but this kind of bullshit is why we get these shoved down our throat

 

[GhostZ06]

The "Games as a Service" model has won, completely.

Here is their Wiki homepage:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Take-Two_Interactive

Here is the Wiki with their library of games:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Take-Two_Interactive_video_games

good i wont be buying there shit

 

[Madmick]

Outside of Rockstar and the Bioshock games, Take Two's releases have been really mediocre for the most part. The NBA 2K games have been loaded with bullshit for years yet people still eat those games up year after year.

Console gamers already gave in to paying to play online which I find much grosser than microtransactions.



They really aren't but whatever fits your narrative.

Sid Meier's games (Civilization series, Pirates! series, Railroad! series, Ace Patrol series, Starship series)
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion (Windows/Xbox versions; also Shivering Isles expansions)
Borderlands series
XCOM series
Mafia series
Max Payne series
Serious Sam series
Spec Ops series
NHL 2K series
MLB 2K series
NBA 2K series
WWE 2K series
Top Spin series
Evolve
Rune
Tycoon series (Railroad Tycoon, Oil Tycoon, Airport Tycoon, Political Tycoon)
Age of Wonders series
Tropico series
Earthworm Jim 3D
Star Cross series

Free market at its best.

Thats why i gave up on big name games, they are a scam.

This isn't at all the prime correlation. There are ten billion free, tiny smartphone games that never tried any other model. Case in point-- let's roll back the clock several years:
Ken Levine steps away from BioShock to create something new (at Take-Two)

BioShock creator Ken Levine has handed publisher 2K the keys to his fantastical video game universe to work on something new.

Levine announced he was "winding down Irrational Games as you know it", the studio he co-founded 17 years ago. His new venture will be "a smaller, more entrepreneurial endeavor" at Take-Two, 2K's parent company. All but 15 at Irrational have been let go.

"There's no great way to lay people off, and our first concern is to make sure that the people who are leaving have as much support as we can give them during this transition," he wrote on the Irrational Games website.

"Besides financial support, the staff will have access to the studio for a period of time to say their goodbyes and put together their portfolios. Other Take-Two studios will be on hand to discuss opportunities within the company, and we'll be hosting a recruiting day where we'll be giving 3rd party studios and publishers a chance to hold interviews with departing Irrational staff."

Levine was vague about his next game, but he will stay with Take-Two to make it. Whatever it is, the goal is to create "narrative-driven games for the core gamer that are highly replayable". Levine added: "To foster the most direct relationship with our fans possible, we will focus exclusively on content delivered digitally."

"When I first contemplated what I wanted to do, it became very clear to me that we were going to need a long period of design," he explained. "Initially, I thought the only way to build this venture was with a classical startup model, a risk I was prepared to take. But when I talked to Take-Two about the idea, they convinced me that there was no better place to pursue this new chapter than within their walls. After all, they're the ones who believed in and supported BioShock in the first place...

AAA single player games is one of the last recognizable stones from the ruins of that civilization. Levine left because he realized there just wasn't enough money in making hall-of-fame classics like Bioshock, anymore.

Let's not all forget that one of the chief effects of the advent of online software piracy was to drive all services to the cloud where nothing could be pirated. It's proven a billion times more effective than crap like Denuvo, and unlike Denuvo, it was actually around and viable at the outset of this decade. Piracy has effected numerous goods for the common man, but it's not all milk and honey.

For my own part, I waffle between "blaming":

and

 

[pinger]

Fuck this gay earth

 

[Rod1]

This isn't at all the prime correlation. There are ten billion free, tiny smartphone games that never tried any other model. Case in point-- let's roll back the clock several years:
Ken Levine steps away from BioShock to create something new (at Take-Two)

AAA single player games is one of the last recognizable stones from the ruins of that civilization. Levine left because he realized there just wasn't enough money in making hall-of-fame classics like Bioshock, anymore.

Let's not all forget that one of the chief effects of the advent of online software piracy was to drive all services to the cloud where nothing could be pirated. It's proven a billion times more effective than crap like Denuvo, and unlike Denuvo, it was actually around and viable at the outset of this decade. Piracy has effected numerous goods for the common man, but it's not all milk and honey.

For my own part, I waffle between "blaming":

and

Well the tiny smartphone games usually dont ask you for $50USD upfront.

Also i dont really mind for an online multiplayer component to be trying to hook you on microtransactions.

My beef is games being thrown around unfinished then charging you for every single dungeon they failed to release. EA is certainly the worst in that regard.

Bioshock games were certainly good, but storydriven AAA games are a thing of the past, you need a multiplayer component to recoup the costs.

 

[Madmick]

Well the tiny smartphone games usually dont ask you for $50USD upfront.

Duh....which is precisely why they are the chief perpetrators of the GAAS model. The other major influence, as I have pointed out, was neither free up front nor free to subscribe; yet it's unbound financial success forever influenced online business models, and converged with the advent of the casual smartphone gold rush bonanza.

 

[Rod1]

Duh....which is precisely why they are the chief perpetrators of the GAAS model. The other major influence, as I have pointed out, was neither free up front nor free to subscribe; yet it's unbound financial success forever influenced online business models, and converged with the advent of the casual smartphone gold rush bonanza.

WoW is entirely an online game with massive dedicated servers and content being developed constantly, that costs money so they obviously need to recoup that money

The main issue i have is with single player games which are obviously unfinished.

 

[Madmick]

WoW is entirely an online game with massive dedicated servers and content being developed constantly, that costs money so they obviously need to recoup that money

The main issue i have is with single player games which are obviously unfinished.

You can say the same of online servers for Playstation and Xbox servers, but that doesn't stop @thulsadoom from bitching about it above like the gaming companies owed him a costly ongoing service for free.

You're overlooking the key difference, and the heart of WoW's contribution to the current business zeitgeist; WoW taught the rest of the world how to retain a player base-- how to keep them interested...and paying. They did this by transforming and expanding the game without every truly abandoning the original content, and that content's mechanical heart.

The gaming companies borrowed these ideas, and married them to the smartphone free-to-play model. The horse armor wasn't the tipping point that many believe it to be. This came earlier. One of the key stepping stones to this achievement was yoking the consumers to an online network where they could easily facilitate these microtransactions, and the delivery of their content to the consumer. You need that purchase to be a 1-click "instant" drawn directly from a digital source: almost always a credit card, but Paypal or direct-withdrawal-from-online-banking works just as well. The Xbox Live marketplace, Sony Playstation Network, Steam, and others blazed this trail. The Google Play Store and Apple iTunes Store picked up the ball and ran with it.

The penetration of smartphones across the world, in so many markets that weren't interested in classic gaming, made this far, far more profitable than prior models, and especially with regard to ROI (both in terms of profit and time spent). This is evident by the fact that last year Smartphone/Mobile gaming became the most profitable gaming of all types; PCs are now 2nd, and Consoles (all combined) are a distant third.

This is the Console & PC worlds biting back. If you can't beat them...

 

[GearSolidMetal]

I'm waiting for hackers to turn from hacking DRM to hacking microtransactions.