Jonah Mendoza

Professor Parker

ENGL-1302

30 July 2019

The Problem with Gaming Companies

A company is defined as an entity that is made up of a group of individuals that engages

in business. The main purpose of these companies is to create successful products to the public

so that the organization can make a profit from it. Another purpose for companies is to convince

their consumers in a satisfying matter by making a fair offer that is beneficial for both sides.

Companies in this modern era tend to develop a variety of ideas and methods that can persuade

people to buy their goods so that the organization can make a good amount of money off from it.

Some ideas include a collaboration with another big company, promoting an offer with a cheaper

price, or even adding a new twist for their product. However, some companies come up with

questionable ways to get consumers to pay the products they sell in order to gain more money for

themselves which results in an act of greed. Particularly, gaming companies try to develop a new

payment offer that has influenced greatly in mobile games by letting players to pay for goods

within a video game. In other words, this offer forces players to make progress on a game by

paying real money. As a result, not only does this discourage consumers to buy the company’s

game while constantly making additional purchases, it also creates an outrage within the gaming

community. It is one of these types of mindsets for companies such as Electronic Arts (EA) that

ends up struggling to publish a product that can bring its satisfaction for the fans.
 Microtransactions are business models in video games where a consumer can purchase

virtual goods which is often seen in many games that are free of charge. One of EA’s recent

games, Star Wars Battlefront II included a feature before its release known as loot boxes which

are items that earned by playing the game or paying with real money. These loot boxes award the

players with rare goods and bonuses by using the different game’s currency system that the game

offers. The problem with the currency system is that one of the currencies must be earned with

real money only which gives a dissatisfaction to the players. According to the angered

community, they claim that this decision was made so that it can encourage players to “pay to

win” which means that players can improve by purchasing more loot boxes for better items. Due

to the negative feedback given to EA, one of the representatives of the company responded that

their microtransaction system was made to give the players “a sense of pride and

accomplishment” for unlocking the rare items within the game. However, this answer didn’t

change anything, and it continued the disapproval of the fans leading up to the company making

up for their mistakes. Sometime before Battlefront II’s release, EA decided to remove the

microtransactions in the game by cutting one of its currencies that required real money. In

response to the controversy, a representative from Lucasfilm (film production company of the

Star Wars series) states, “Star Wars has always been about the fans—and whether it’s

‘Battlefront’ or any other Star Wars experience, they come first. That’s why we support EA’s

decision to temporarily remove in-game payments to address fan concerns.” While EA has

attempted to please the players, the business decisions the gaming company has resulted in

others believing that they wanted to include additional purchases for the sake of their own

benefit. This microtransaction system persuaded consumers to continue paying more goods in

the game so that EA can make more of a profit out of it like how other games were with its
additional content. The issue with their method was that the business model wasn’t for that

specific community and genre.

With many companies competing to make money by selling the most profitable goods

possible, some organizations fall into a path can imply that they are reaching to a certain goal

more than they should be leading to greed. Such selfish actions made by a company shows how

valuable it is to please their audiences in order to make a successful product.

 Annotated Bibliography

“In App Purchases - the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Truth.” Android Authority, 15 Dec.

2013, www.androidauthority.com/in-app-purchases-good-bad-ugly-truth-324604/ This article

explains the pros and cons of in-app purchases in mobile games. It provides statistics of the in-

app purchases and facts about it.

“Why Are in-Game Purchases a Problem for Young People? - CBBC Newsround.” BBC

News, BBC, www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/42099245. The source gives an example of how a

gaming company creates a negative impact on the community by their methods of adding in-

game purchases in a Star Wars video game. It also states the company’s response to the outrage

of fans and how they managed to solve the situation.

Jackson, Gita, and Gita Jackson. “A Guide To The Endless, Confusing Star Wars

Battlefront II Controversy.” Kotaku, Kotaku, 21 Nov. 2017, kotaku.com/a-guide-to-the-endless-

confusing-star-wars-battlefront-1820623069. Gives more details regarding the EA controversy

and its use of microtransactions. It provides dates and a breakdown of every event related to the

EA situation.