When news of microtransactions being present in the soon-to-be-released, potentially-final Metal Gear Solid title developed by Kojima, the fan base and critics alike raised a collective eyebrow. Microtransactions are the bane of video games, an unfortunate by-product of the rise of tablet and phone gaming, and a feature that many feel has no place in big-budget mainstream titles.
As a result, Konami made a recent public statement that laid out just what purpose these microtransactions will serve, and how they will function within the huge, open-world title. Basically, the game plays as it was designed to be played, but the microtransactions will allow for players to “cheat” their way through it, unlocking content normally closed off until later in the game. Their reasoning for this is that not everyone has dozens of hours to sink into games of this scale, and may want to hit all of the bullet-points in the story with what little free time they have open.
That very well may be, but at the end of the day, this is clearly a business-driven decision. Konami wants to get every last dime out of this hugely-controversial title, plain and simple. Truth be told, it’s odd to see microtransactions in a major release – they’ve been largely phased out of the AAA space since they failed so miserably in Dead Space 3 .