2nd Physical Source

Seliukas Gvidenis."Microtransactions as a Business Model in the Video Game Industry". GRIN Publishing, 2015.

Microtransactions continue to show up time and time again, usually being a point of contention and a direct concern for fans. Being constantly implemented they clearly generate enough revenue for a publisher or developer to decide to put them into their game. Seliukas Gvidenis in his bachelor thesis wrote about microtransactions as a business model. He stated in regards to if they are a success or not,"The microtransactions business model has proved very successful in the past and it will likely continue to be successful in the next few years, as companies seem to be developing games with this model in mind and mobile gaming is continuing its fast growth." Throughout his thesis he describes the most successful mobile games like League of Legends which has "27 million daily players, 67 million monthly" calling it  "doing free to play right". But he also brings what seems like a reoccurring antagonist throughout this topic having a section of his thesis called "When big publishers can’t get the model right - the case of EA". In this case EA continues to amaze with the inclusion of a huge number pay-walls and not listening to their play base in the case of  Dungeon Keeper” for mobile platforms. Seliukas says,"Marketed as a free to play game with microtransactions, however the gameplay was so hindered by the pay walls that players felt like the game was essentially unplayable unless they made several in app purchases." Microtransactions as a business model if done right can bring in millions that enjoy the gameplay and don't mind spending a couple of bucks to support a well deserved game. But if done wrong whether its through pay walls, or ignoring of a game's player base can cause destruction in the form of a lower reputation or a decreased number of players. Luckily (maybe) something is becoming more and more common, governments are beginning to take notice and are taking action.