Always the outspoken game designer, Hazelight’s Josef Fares has recently commented on the negative influence that the widespread usage of microtransactions is having on the game industry. Speaking to YouTube channel Fall Damage in a reaction video to user comments, Fares explained:
Of course, and that goes for everything we do at Hazelight. I think that kind of shit affects the design of how the game should be done. Every time you take a design decision based on you making more money in the game, I think it’s a huge problem, and it’s stopping our industry from a creative perspective.
For a few years, especially around 2017-2018, there were instances of highly aggressive microtransactions that triggered massive backlash from fans. Famous instances include NBA 2K, Star Wars Battlefront II (where Electronic Arts was forced to remove them just before launch), Marvel’s Avengers (in this case, too, the developers had to quickly cut them from the game), and more recently, Dying Light 2. Microtransactions even made it into several single player games, like Middle-earth: Shadow of War, various Ubisoft games, and even CAPCOM’s Devil May Cry V, Dragon’s Dogma 2, and Resident Evil 4.
Nowadays, developers are more careful when implementing microtransactions, sticking strictly to cosmetic items in most cases. However, microtransactions are more pervasive than ever, especially since the game industry isn’t growing meaningfully anymore and development budgets continue to increase. The only solution, then, is to try to squeeze more out of the average consumer.
Thankfully, if you don’t want anything to do with microtransactions, there are still several games completely devoid of them, such as Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 or even Josef Fares’s own Split Fiction, which just launched to positive reviews. On Wccftech, the game earned an 8/10 score from Nathan Birch:
Split Fiction may tell a more conventional story than Hazelight Studios’ last couple of games, but it’s hard to get too hung up on that, given how expertly it builds on and refines It Takes Two’s unique approach to co-op action without sacrificing any of its ingenuity. Split Fiction may not end up being everyone’s favorite Hazelight joint, particularly if you’re not up for its sometimes-frustrating level of challenge, but the game is anything but by-the-books.
