Amazon opened itself up for future microtransactions.
If there’s any lessons I’ve imparted on my viewers these past ten years, it should be that truth is pointless, promises are meaningless, and the descent into overt monetization isn’t a question of if, but of when. Now your average MMO gamer can probably list ten times they’ve been flat out lied to by a developer. Our game will never be free to play. Our game won’t have microtransactions. The microtransactions will only be cosmetic. They will only be for convenience boosters. Everything will be obtainable in-game. Most things will be obtainable in-game. Anything non-cosmetic will be obtainable in-game. Well the equivalents will, anyway. It won’t be more powerful than tier 4 gear. Blah blah blah.
Amazon opened the door for “pay to win” in New World, and the game isn’t even out of alpha yet. A recent leak from New World’s NDA testers details that Amazon is testing a cash shop containing cosmetic gear and dyes. Where’s the pay to win? They also note the possibility of convenience boosters and quality of life items.
Now Amazon has since given a statement, and I want to see if you can spot the loophole for the later and seemingly inevitable switcheroo.
“We are aware that there are concerns around the storefront testing we are currently doing in Alpha. To be clear, at launch all of the items in the shop will be focused on cosmetics, and there will be no boosts of any type for sale. We will share more on our vision for MTX in the near future.”
All of the items will be cosmetic and there will be no boosts of any type. At launch. Keywords being “at launch.” After that the door is wide open. Remember when Scott Hartsman assured us that Rift had “no plans” to go free to play, even going as far as to talk about how much of a net negative it would be? Yea, no plans until Hartsman finished flapping his jaw. Remember when Trion Worlds fraudulently advertised a 10% cash shop discount with ArcheAge? That’s why there’s no such thing as a “Trion Worlds employee” today.
So Amazon has left the door wide open to go back on their word without really going back on their word. Not that that would matter since game developers have had no qualms straight up lying about monetization plans in the past. The question now becomes when does New World get its non-cosmetic cash shop items, and how intrusive will they be. More so, will they all come out at once or will the game slowly roll it out like Lord of the Rings Online? Given Amazon’s past performance in games, will New World survive that long?
Let’s find out together.
MMO Fallout 