Watch: We Are Worried About Microtransactions in Racing Games!


What used to be unthinkable in the days of the internet not being common yet is now the norm in almost any game - and racing titles are no exception to microtransactions. It is one of the more questionable elements in modern gaming, which is why OverTake's Marvin Miller takes a deep dive into the topic and shares his worries.

Image credit: OverTake

In-game currency, car liveries, clothing items for your virtual racing driver... There are numerous possibilities to spend you hard-earned real-life cash on digital goods in your favorite games. In fact, the focus in games of a particular company seems to have shifted almost exclusively on these in recent years - and it has reached the world of racing games and simulators as well.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1287866833379315712

Looking Back at the Early Days​

Marvin takes a look at the history of microtransactions in gaming, going back as far as 2006. and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. The explosion of the practice since has lead to interesting new content being made available on one hand, but also to outrageous prices for miniscule items on the other - not to mention the pay-to-win mechanic some titles started to implement. This gets worse when it is specifically aimed towards kids, as certain examples Marvin focuses on show.

What does this mean for future racing titles in particular? Are we facing normalization of these practices even in racing simulations? This may very well be the case, as Marvin thinks - but only time will tell for sure.

Your Thoughts​

What is your take on microtransactions - both in gaming in general and in (sim) racing games? Do you agree with Marvin? Let us know in the comments below!
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About author
Yannik Haustein
Yannik Haustein
Lifelong motorsport enthusiast and sim racing aficionado, walking racing history encyclopedia.

Sim racing editor, streamer and one half of the SimRacing Buddies podcast (warning, German!).

Heel & Toe Gang 4 life :D

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Comments

W
Premium
Kevin Troschinski said:
It highly depends on what do you take money for. That was meant this way. Taking money for skins or ripped copy pasted stuff is like an "infection" yes
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So if someone puts the time in to create a skin set should they not be able to charge something for that if they want to?

I neither have the talent or the time to make skins so if someone makes a good set that I want to use it’s down to me to decide if they are worth paying for as long the money goes to the creator. Most skins are based on real life cars, it’s what people want, so they are by definition going to look like a copy of something else.

It’s great that so many people put the time and effort into doing the work and alot of it they give away for free but if they do want some sort of contribution thats also OK, it‘s then up to people decide whether they still want the content
 
VirtuaIceMan
Just wait until you have to pay real money to fix car damage, or pay for tyres, or fuel... many mobile games already limit the amount of time you can play without paying to keep playing sooner...
 
S
Wreckoning said:
So if someone puts the time in to create a skin set should they not be able to charge something for that if they want to?

I neither have the talent or the time to make skins so if someone makes a good set that I want to use it’s down to me to decide if they are worth paying for as long the money goes to the creator. Most skins are based on real life cars, it’s what people want, so they are by definition going to look like a copy of something else.

It’s great that so many people put the time and effort into doing the work and alot of it they give away for free but if they do want some sort of contribution thats also OK, it‘s then up to people decide whether they still want the content
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if thats the case the people that want to charge for these skins can ask for a doantion not lock it behinds a paywall. the amount people pay for a skin that is probabaly made for free somewhere else is laughable.

a skin is exactly that its colours on a car, yes it takes work but i've seen people charge anywhere from £25 per skin to £500!!!!!!!

simps are EVERYWHERE!!

how can i put it another way.........the work put in does not warrant the extortionate price tag, something that simps don't seem to u8nderstand
 
W
Premium
solrider666 said:
if thats the case the people that want to charge for these skins can ask for a doantion not lock it behinds a paywall. the amount people pay for a skin that is probabaly made for free somewhere else is laughable.

a skin is exactly that its colours on a car, yes it takes work but i've seen people charge anywhere from £25 per skin to £500!!!!!!!

simps are EVERYWHERE!!

how can i put it another way.........the work put in does not warrant the extortionate price tag, something that simps don't seem to u8nderstand
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If all you do is ask for a donation 99% of people will take it for free.

Like I said it’s down to people to make there own mind up over what is value for money or whether they think the creator is ripping off other content.

If someone wants to pay £500 or even £25 for a skin thats on them , doesn’t mean that people who would only charge a couple of pounds should give their skins away for free and hope every now and again someone gives a donation.

No one makes you buy this stuff but you also shouldn’t assume you should be able to have it for free or only pay when you want to.
 
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Johnr777
solrider666 said:
if thats the case the people that want to charge for these skins can ask for a doantion not lock it behinds a paywall. the amount people pay for a skin that is probabaly made for free somewhere else is laughable.

a skin is exactly that its colours on a car, yes it takes work but i've seen people charge anywhere from £25 per skin to £500!!!!!!!

simps are EVERYWHERE!!

how can i put it another way.........the work put in does not warrant the extortionate price tag, something that simps don't seem to u8nderstand
Click to expand...
Charging and asking for donations are completely different things.

If someone wants to charge whatever amount for a mod, and someone is willing to pay whatever amount. There’s no extortion is there? I think you misunderstand the term “extortion”
 
TomLehockySVK
Any game that has microtransactions will NOT get my full money. Maybe like 15 euros at most if a really want the game, but when something is as awful as Destiny 2 then i will never even buy the game in the first place and would not want it even if it was free.

Racing games already have microtransactions, look at the F1 series having that garbage that they added this year but also what it had years ago with the battle pass trash.

Also thinking that microtransactions support a game development is a lie. That money goes to the pockets of the CEO or any other higher-up. Look how Activision Blizzard had record revenue and they still had mass layoffs happen. Stop supporting that garbage.
 
Mekonrider
I am more bothered about the plans for microtransactions for real cars!! All this nonsense with subscriptions for heated seats etc. Probably have to buy yourself bonus launches in your Golf R after you've used them all up.

Codemasters started all this in racing with Dirt and the DLC cars that were already done and coded into the game?
 
T
Metla said:
I'll put a similar comment to the one I put on the video.

The fact that a large portion of the sim community supports the iRacing model just shows that we are the problem, EA would never get away with a scam such as this.

Makes the horse example seem a bit cute.
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You can't just flatly blame the consumer. All it takes is a few whales to greatly outvote people who refuse to partake in such things.

Just think about it, if a single user spends 1000's or more on a singular game their "voting wallet" has much more of a say than even 10 or 100 people who choose to not partake or who only spend a very small amount. The cliche saying "vote with your wallet" operates on the premise that everyone's vote is the same when it is not.

IMO the only way to stop these things is for regulations to be put in place, but I doubt that will happen anytime soon if ever.
 
T2Beatnik
Premium
I think there's a distinction between paid DLC, and micro-transactions in the vein of most mobile games. If someone (original publisher or modder) produces DLC that I want, at a price I think is fair, I will be happy to pay for it. I'm a Patreon subscriber for several of my favorite modders.

But when I think of microtransactions on mobile games, I think of the worst offenders: EA and their affiliates, Zynga games, and many others. Most of those game developers intentionally build the games around DLC, releasing the base game for free, but making it nearly impossible to do anything with them unless you pay - a LOT - for DLC. Their approach is predatory and it insults my intelligence.

As for iRacing, it's a great sim, but I can't get behind their business model, so I'm not a subscriber. I hope they re-think it some day, but I'm not holding my breath.
 
Johnr777
Tar Heel said:
You can't just flatly blame the consumer. All it takes is a few whales to greatly outvote people who refuse to partake in such things.

Just think about it, if a single user spends 1000's or more on a singular game their "voting wallet" has much more of a say than even 10 or 100 people who choose to not partake or who only spend a very small amount. The cliche saying "vote with your wallet" operates on the premise that everyone's vote is the same when it is not.

IMO the only way to stop these things is for regulations to be put in place, but I doubt that will happen anytime soon if ever.
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Please clarify on “to stop these things is for regulations to be put in place”

Stop what exactly.
 
Gevatter
Premium
Tar Heel said:
You can't just flatly blame the consumer. All it takes is a few whales to greatly outvote people who refuse to partake in such things.
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Those whales are consumers as well, and all the blame is to squarely be put on the consumers in this case. If people rebelled and boycotted (like is currently still mostly the case with NFTs in games) then companies that want to earn money will not use those things.

A company will try anything to make a profit. Sometimes the try to hop on a bandwagon, and it may work or it may fail, but the only ones who have a say in this are the customers.

Are we facing normalization of these practices even in racing simulations?
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Well R3E is still alive and well charging extra for their car liveries, so yes we are.
 
G
I don't mind paying for actual content likes cars, tracks, etc. The only problem is if a sim/game goes the pay to win route. That's where the line should be drawn.
 
Eckhart von Glan
Just weird how in a thread about micro transactions people even mention iRacing. As far as I know, they do not exist in the service iRacing offers.
 
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Aiden237
solrider666 said:
a skin is exactly that its colours on a car, yes it takes work but i've seen people charge anywhere from £25 per skin to £500!!!!!!!
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1689619513217.png


The lack of a "mods" tab on your profile is really telling.


if thats the case the people that want to charge for these skins can ask for a doantion
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Most will never donate.
 

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S
I would happily pay four times a Triple A game value for a whole and complete game. With free updates and patches. But it must be good.
 
H_Belane
Premium
Even if. Remember your last McD's menu for 12 euros. Was it made with the same passion? And how long did you have fun with it?
 
B
Yeah I'm definitely not paying AUD $20 per month, then even more per car or track for a racing game that I can't even use competitively because they don't have servers in my region.

I'll gladly give some guys a few bucks on Patreon for a good mod, but the iRacing model sucks. I can understand the subscription price, but to then charge per car and track on top of that is a dealbreaker.
 

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