Games as a Service (Off-Topic)

by Fuertisimo, Wednesday, September 24, 2014, 11:50 (3504 days ago) @ rliebherr

It's like renting a house instead of buying. Ultimately which would you prefer?

Something to keep in mind is that any shifts in the business model, whether its DLC, games as a service, forced internet connectivity etc. are done to help the businesses bottom line. Any benefit to the consumer is either completely incidental or cynically motivated. Corporations exist to increase profits for shareholders, you better believe the people at the top only have that in mind, and they're always going to be searching for new ways to separate our money from our wallets.

Bobby Kotick is an Activision executive who has worked closely with Bungie during Destiny's development (he was on site when the journalists were first invited to preview Destiny, where they showed up and were not allowed to play the game and left wondering why they were there at all). Read up on Kotick's thoughts on monetizing the games industry and you'll have a better idea of why some of us are so leery of Destiny's incredibly expensive DLC plan (no subscription though right? lol).

Some would call me cynical when I say I am absolutely certain that Destiny was chopped up and intentionally subdivided to maximize DLC profits, but if you look at the mindset of the people in charge I believe its actually naive to think they wouldn't do it.

Ultimately Activision is a bed of snakes and I was very disappointed when I found out Bungie had gotten into bed with them. They sure know how to market though, the amount of money they spent to get people hyped for the game was insane. All targeted at the bottom line though.

Sorry for the tangential post, but its all connected by the profit motive that dominates the industry. Just remember, they don't care about us beyond our purchasing power.