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.
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.
