Microtransaction categories. Not all of them are bad.

[Dragonwinged]

So a smal problem I've had when browsing app stores (partucularly mobile app stores) is good documentation of in-app purchases. So I'm making a list of Microtransaction categories to hopefully implement into my app store, both for desktop and mobile platforms. And if you'd like to use this in your app store, then by all means, please use it.

 

• Remove Ads: as simple as it sounds. A program includes ads. however you're given the option to pay a small fee to remove them. I've found a lot of games and apps that use this.

 

• In-Demo Premium Purchase: offering a portion of your app for free, then requiring a one-time purchase to unlock the rest of the content. Games like Limbo for mobile, Monster Hunter Stories, and Grimvalor utilize this method. I've also noticed that Prey on PS4 utilizes this method.

 

• Subscriptions: regular payments to access in-app services. Yeah, apps like Netflix and Hulu are now categorized as having in-app purchases. This has made it a royal pain to find out if a streaming service is free or not.

 

• DLC: one-time purchases for guaranteed in-game content. From Oblivion's laughable Horse Armor DLC to Horizon: Zero Dawn's incredible Frozen Wilds DLC, this category covers all in-game purchases that give you permanent access to new in-game content.

 

• In-game Consumables:In-game purchases that reward you with a one-time use item. Try imagining a Pokemon game that charged you $0.99 for every super potion you needed. In-game consumables are probably one of the most disliked Monetization methods used by game publishers. However, it's not the worst.

 

• Premium Currencies: In-app purchases that give you access to In-game usable currency. Many Triple A publoshers use this, like Bethesda's Creation Coins and Fortnite V-bucks. Premium currencies are often used as a middle man for other in-game purchases, and as such has been seen as a way to overcharge players for coins they dont need. And since most publishers dont offer a way to exchange their premium currencies for recognized global currencies, there are probably a lot of people with excess currency sitting in their account that they cant use.

 

• Loot Boxes: in-game purchases that give players a randomized reward. Probably the most despised form of in-game purchases. The argument that has separated loot boxes from gambling is that, like premium currencies, the contents of your loot boxes cannot be exchanged for globally recognized currencies. This is the category that most gamers will try to avoid.

Well, I think that's everything. Comment below if you think I missed anything.

[BobVonBob]

I don't think I'd classify "premium currency" as its own category, since it's generally just an intermediate for the other categories.

 

 

One other comment:

38 minutes ago, Dragonwinged said:

most publishers dont offer a way to exchange their premium currencies for recognized global currencies

This is a very difficult proposition. In many (most?) jurisdictions this exposes the company to a lot of extra regulation and creates significant additional financial complexity, so most don't bother unless this is their entire business model like those survey apps. Even then most of them don't allow simply "cashing out", it's done in the form of gift cards or similar.