This article originally ran under a different banner/website in February of 2020 and is now being here re-uploaded for purposes of convenience and consolidation. Please enjoy.
My loyal followers… you were not prepared. The ire of avarice publishers came to our world; their only desire to bleed our wallets dry. They razed our multiplayer games, our single-player stories, and countless genres of games. You tried to stop them by voting with your wallets, and you failed. So, you come to me, nothing remaining but anger and frustration. You learned we can no longer sit idly but must scream injustice until the publishers shrink in fear. Now you see there is no sacrifice too great if it brings an end to greedy publishers and their microtransactions.
Once again, this threat has returned, but it is not Ubisoft or Warner Brother leading the charge. Over the years, I, the Doomsayer, have taken solace in the PlayStation 4. Titles like Marvel’s Spider-Man and Until Dawn offered narrative stories without microtransactions infesting them. Unfortunately, Sony looks to betray the ones who took safe haven from the loot boxes and experience boosts. With this betrayal, I do what I must always do, shout it atop my soapbox.
In February 2020, a patent from Sony had been making the rounds portraying Sony’s betrayal. The patent shows the player conversing with a console equipped with an Alexa-esque AI feature. The players merely ask how to defeat a specific boss. The console spits out a stat saying eighty percent of players defeat the boss using resources X. The console then offers the player the mere opportunity to purchase the resource like it is a mobile app.
The patent itself highlights more of what Sony’s greed-fueled hopes, specifically with a rough image from God of War. It shows Kratos and Atreus’s first encounter with the World Serpent. A small text box, resembling something you see in a mobile game, pops up saying eighty percent of players defeated this boss with resource E. Select resource E now. A cringe-inducing scene if you ask me. The new feature will also track your play history and craft microtransactions to fit your needs, a feature that is already common in mobile games. Imagine playing Dark Souls or any deliberately challenging game, only to have the new PlayStation 5 constantly interrupt your play to hound you to purchase these microtransactions. Vile.
Sony isn’t the only one with these dangerous patents. Activision had created a patent that outlined a matchmaking system to match players who did buy microtransactions against players who didn’t. EA also created one that outlines a scheme that devalues items unless they were bought immediately, encouraging impulse spending. Honestly, I expect these vile acts from the likes of Activision and EA, but it is disheartening to see Sony take part in these heinous deeds. Sony has harbored so much goodwill by resisting shoveling microtransactions into God of War, The Last of Us, or Horizon Zero Dawn. Having a new console keen to shove ads for microtransactions into your face, will kill that goodwill in a single stroke.
I can already hear the defender flock to Sony’s defense. Cries claiming these are just patents and Sony doesn’t have to use them will be hurled in my direction. While this is true, I heed players to look towards the mobile market as a glimpse into the future. Frustrated with Shadow of War and locking its orcs in loot boxes? No doubt this has become a common trick amongst mobile developers to swindle more money from players. Annoyed at the grind in Assassin’s Creed: Odyssey while the solution to the grind could be found in the Ubisoft’s store? I assure you experience booster can be found in any mobile game’s store. Do you think the PlayStation 5 will be the only place where you can be offered resources to help with a daunting challenge? Then you must not browse the mobile market. I know I have seen that appalling AFK Arena title advertises similar features to the ones Sony is trying to patent.
You might feel that all hope is lost, and I am here to assure you the opposite is true. While Sony can cling to this patent like an imp gripping a golden ring, publishers have become as cowardly as rats. One merely needs to shine a light on their filthy practices to have them rushing to the shadows. Remember all the quivering and begging Electronic Arts did when players revolted at the Star Wars Battlefront 2 loot box controversy. Even to this day, they stand before government councils, groveling that their loot boxes are fun and ethical. All of that started when players had grown tired of EA’s ways.
So the next time, one of these miserable publishers patent a way to wring more money out of their customers, DO NOT SIT IDLE. Take to the streets. Scream about it from the rooftops. Write articles damming their actions. Create funny memes to spread across the internet like wildfire. Make them fear you, my loyal followers. The constant noise will have them scurry off like the vermin they are, and they will regret the day they filed those patents.
Source:
Alexandra, Heather. “Activision Patents Matchmaking That Encourages Players To Buy Microtransactions.” Kotaku, Kotaku, 17 Oct. 2017, kotaku.com/activision-patents-matchmaking-that-encourages-players-1819630937.
Baker, Sammy. “PS5 Patent Has Some Fans Panicking Sony’s Going to Push Microtransactions on Players.” Push Square, 7 Feb. 2020, www.pushsquare.com/news/2020/02/ps5_patent_has_some_fans_panicking_sonys_going_to_push_microtransactions_on_players.
Mansoor, Saqib. “EA Patent Encourages Microtransactions By Devaluing Items Unless Bought Quickly.” SegmentNext, SegmentNext, 30 Sept. 2020, segmentnext.com/2019/10/01/ea-patent-encourages-microtransactions/.