People also expressed alot that they dislike it.
The Xbone thing was because of all the bad press and how it became very clear the market didn't want games tied to one system, they wanted what they have always had before, and the fact their main competitor was offering that and they were generating an absurd level of negative press, it made sense to reserve that
They didn't just check a spreadsheet and see pre orders were down 17% and then change everything
How? The game sold a bunch.
If, as you say, the "majority don't care" (about microtransactions, on disc DLC, etc), then they are casting their vote with their wallets as "not caring" and if anything that proves that voting with your wallet does work. Just because the side you are backing doesn't win, does not mean that the system doesn't work, in theory anyway.
If you're planing on buying a game, then decide not to because of something in the game, do you send the publisher a letter explaining why they lost the sale?
If not how will they know how many sales they lost because of wallet voting?
There are probably a handful of people that didn't buy MGSV because Hayter wasn't voicing Snake, then others because they didn't like the FOB stuff, how does the publisher get this information?
The big flaw that so many people ignore is that "Voting With Your Wallet" is a 2-step process.
1. Don't buy it.
2. Let them know WHY you didn't buy it.
Otherwise, they'll just assume you don't like the franchise anymore or make some other insane excuse for why a game didn't sell ("It starred a woman", "The genre is dead", "It didn't have multiplayer", etc.)
Is there any proof that this has ever worked? Even the infamous Xbone reversal was something that happened before the console came out, so it wasn't something they reacted to because of poor sales, that was entirely down to them realising what it was offering wasn't something consumers wanted
If you're planing on buying a game, then decide not to because of something in the game, do you send the publisher a letter explaining why they lost the sale?
If not how will they know how many sales they lost because of wallet voting?
There are probably a handful of people that didn't buy MGSV because Hayter wasn't voicing Snake, then others because they didn't like the FOB stuff, how does the publisher get this information?
Maybe I wasn't clear in the OP, I'm not saying democracy doesn't work, I mean the "vote with your wallet" argument that is made on GAF when someone posts complaining about something anti consumer in a game, isn't a productive argument, because the majority don't care, and it won't change anything
We could all complain about microtransactions in paid games for the next decade, voting with our wallets and all, but every big holiday game for 2025 is going to contain microtransactions, that is the way the industry is going
If anything, microtransactions making a publisher less than expected will probably cause them to push for the design of the game to change in order to recoup more from them in future games
Never worked.
Because most People buy shit even trough there is complains.
People complained because L4D2 came 1-2 years after 1. But then people bought it.
Modern Warfare 2 has no dedicated servers on PC. People bought it.
Microtransaction in game XYZ. People buy it.
Always online? People buy it.
DLCs everywhere? People buy it.
Game is shit even trough reviewers say its good? People buy it.
Its like most gamers arent informed enough about issues in games. Just like Jim Sterling said.
A lot of the time when it's revealed a game is doing something anti consumer or adopting an unpopular financial model, a lot of the time there are people who make the "vote with your wallet" argument
Is there any proof that this has ever worked? Even the infamous Xbone reversal was something that happened before the console came out, so it wasn't something they reacted to because of poor sales, that was entirely down to them realising what it was offering wasn't something consumers wanted
With games in particular, a lot of the stuff they are implementing doesn't cost much to add into the game, and even if most players ignore it, the few that don't will make it worthwhile, and keeping this kind of thing in games will cause the majority to get used to them being there anyway
If anything, microtransactions making a publisher less than expected will probably cause them to push for the design of the game to change in order to recoup more from them in future games
If you outright don't buy the game at all, that doesn't send a message either, if a game sells 4.5m and not 5m, and they lose 500k in sales from people "voting with their wallet" they have no idea that was the case, there is no way they will analyse that data and think "shit, we lost 500k in sales because we included a pay to win mechanic"
What do you think, GAF, does voting with your wallet work? Why do people think it does?
Edit for clarity:
The Xbone thing was because of all the bad press and how it became very clear the market didn't want games tied to one system, they wanted what they have always had before, and the fact their main competitor was offering that and they were generating an absurd level of negative press, it made sense to reserve that
They didn't just check a spreadsheet and see pre orders were down 17% and then change everything
Voting with your wallet does work OP.
The Xbox being behind so much for the first 2 years is a remainder of the fallout about the always online policies they tried to pitch before the release. By turning back around in time they managed to get back part of the lost audience.
Also, your argument is flawed about the publisher not noting a 4,5 millions sales instead of a possible 5 million. You are thinking from the consumer perspective.
Companies (especially AAA publishers) are pretty good at predicting sales. Destiny cost reportedly 500 million to make. They have to be pretty damn sure about it to invest that kind of money, and they are. If they are significantly under their sales target, they will know they did something wrong. And a quick investigation will reveal why that happened.
Why this "voting with your wallet" thing isn't working, is because 90% of people on the internet stating they are "making a point" or "not buying the game" will cave anyway. It's just the way it is. So we need to let ourselves be heard, otherwise we're just mindless sheep being herded around.
Xbox One 180 on policies was due to backlash against said policies. There was a wave of hate and disdain on Twitter, Facebook etc. Its some revisionism to say it was only voting with the wallets.
Xbox One 180 on policies was due to backlash against said policies. There was a wave of hate and disdain on Twitter, Facebook etc. Its some revisionism to say it was only voting with the wallets.
You don't remember that for a couple of weeks after the conference that Xbox just assumed this would all blow over, and then their preorders started dropping off at an insane rate.
The 180 was due to preorder cancellations, not due to vocal uproar.
The big flaw that so many people ignore is that "Voting With Your Wallet" is a 2-step process.
1. Don't buy it.
2. Let them know WHY you didn't buy it.
Otherwise, they'll just assume you don't like the franchise anymore or make some other insane excuse for why a game didn't sell ("It starred a woman", "The genre is dead", "It didn't have multiplayer", etc.)
I hate that picture. It's one page out of 17, hardly a representation of whether people in that group bought the game or not.
I'm aware, it's doesn't mean I have to approve. OP asked did voting with your wallet works, in my experience it doesn't, as I said I can't think one one example where it actually worked, because there are people that defend anything, because of us being different, having different preferences and all that stuff.
If you're planing on buying a game, then decide not to because of something in the game, do you send the publisher a letter explaining why they lost the sale?
If not how will they know how many sales they lost because of wallet voting?
There are probably a handful of people that didn't buy MGSV because Hayter wasn't voicing Snake, then others because they didn't like the FOB stuff, how does the publisher get this information?
Maybe I wasn't clear in the OP, I'm not saying democracy doesn't work, I mean the "vote with your wallet" argument that is made on GAF when someone posts complaining about something anti consumer in a game, isn't a productive argument, because the majority don't care, and it won't change anything
We could all complain about microtransactions in paid games for the next decade, voting with our wallets and all, but every big holiday game for 2025 is going to contain microtransactions, that is the way the industry is going