Is 2020 the year this trend ends?
We’re entering a new era of loot box legislation, where watch dogs actually have an eye on these sorts of things: is there a chance 2020 could be a “cleaner” year for microtransactions in what are ostensibly single-player experiences? Maybe.
We saw a glimmer of hope withTorchlight IIIcompletely dropping any pretense of it being a free-to-play, microtransaction-fueled entry, and at the very least, Bethesda isn’t getting greedy withDoom Eternallike they were withFallout 76. So they’re meeting the bare minimum expectations, really.
As seenin the Doom 2016/Eternal Fan Club on Facebook, creative director Hugo Martin noted thatDoom Eternalis a “$60 game,” that is “not free-to-play or a mobile game,” with a “complete experience with no store.” Good!Doomwouldn’t feel right with that nonsense in it, andwe already had to go on a roller coaster ridewith the new trilogy.
Will forced, greedy microtransactions in games that have no business hosting themendin 2020? Probably not, where there’s money to be made. But I hope thetrenddies down. So far, we have a few beacons of hope.
