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[Schrödinger's cat]

• Microtransactions
• Pay-2-win
• Pre-order bonuses
• Special editions
• Season Passes
• In-game currency
• Lootboxes

You can do better than that.
You know Bobby Kotick and Andew Wilson are scrubs compared to your sheer capitalist chutzpah.
There must still be hundreds of ways to go further, dig deeper and eke out more margin and more revenue from consumers.
Let's see what you've got.

 

[Skyn3t]

Pay for second character slot... Oh, I see, Konami was first.

Maybe let's take a moment and "appreciate" how innovative the industry is in terms of milking down consumers. These guys will surprise us again and again, mark my words.

 

[dsier]

I think that Rockstar has already created a near perfect money making machine with GTA V and GTA Online specifically. Think about it: the game came out back in 2013(!) and sold probably around 30-40 million units on PS3 and 360 alone, most of them for full price. A year later, they release the same game again for the new consoles, again selling roughly the same amount of copies, again mostly for full price. Add on top of that GTA Online, which is still one of the most played and viewed online games almost 5 years post release, which has probably made them the same amount of money they already made by selling the game, if not more.

Of course other companies can't simply copy what Rockstar did, because R* have the reputation, ability and trust from their publisher to work on their games as long as they want. But if I were a CEO of a games company, I would at least try to imitate what Rockstar did with GTA V, specifically the timing of the release (right at the end of a console generation) and the inclusion of a seperate online experience.

 

[Musky_Cheese]

You many only stream the game. $19.99 for 7 days. $29.99 for 21 days. $59.99 for 90 days. Free hour trial tho!

 

[Skyn3t]

Sounds like a deal! Where can I sign up, kind sir?

 

[Chinbo37]

TBH everything we can think of here has already been thought of by someone with the power to make it happen.

 

[Shifty]

Reign in the ridiculous development budgets but don't tell anyone.

 

[Lanrutcon]

Pay 60$ for a license to stream to game.
Pay 60$ for a license to view streams featuring the game. "Premium Follower Edition".

Edit: beat'd by Musky_Cheese

 

[FranXico]

Of course other companies can't simply copy what Rockstar did, because R* have the reputation, ability and trust from their publisher to work on their games as long as they want. But if I were a CEO of a games company, I would at least try to imitate what Rockstar did with GTA V, specifically the timing of the release (right at the end of a console generation) and the inclusion of a seperate online experience.

You would fail. It takes many, many years to obtain the reputation and consumer trust Rockstar has. Those are also needed to pull that timing off.

 

[Morinaga]

$60 for the game, then an additional $20 for your starting character to actually play the game.
Digital Deluxe edition is $80 and includes a generic boring as fuck outfit, but you still need to pay $20 for your starting character.
Collectors Edition costs $120 and you get a starting character which is bigged up on the packaging with the BAF outfit, and you also get a badly painted figurine but no game (sold separate).

 

[ar0s]

Most end of generation games fail. Even fantastic games like Kirby's Adventure on NES.

GTA V succeeded because R*, not because it was end of the gen.

 

[NahaNago]

Sell different endings/paths to take in a game as a season pass. So infamous second son would be one game but the dark path would be sold separately in bonus pack or season pass.

 

[Nintendo Switch]

I think that Rockstar has already created a near perfect money making machine with GTA V and GTA Online specifically. Think about it: the game came out back in 2013(!) and sold probably around 30-40 million units on PS3 and 360 alone, most of them for full price. A year later, they release the same game again for the new consoles, again selling roughly the same amount of copies, again mostly for full price. Add on top of that GTA Online, which is still one of the most played and viewed online games almost 5 years post release, which has probably made them the same amount of money they already made by selling the game, if not more.

Of course other companies can't simply copy what Rockstar did, because R* have the reputation, ability and trust from their publisher to work on their games as long as they want. But if I were a CEO of a games company, I would at least try to imitate what Rockstar did with GTA V, specifically the timing of the release (right at the end of a console generation) and the inclusion of a seperate online experience.

Activision and Ubi seem to think pumping out half finished games every single year is the way to go. There's been how many Ass Creeds and CoDs released since GTA V first launched?

 

[ProudClod]

The best monetization has already been discovered, as evidenced by Overwatch, Fortnite, and to a lesser extent, Rocket League (DLC cars handle differently, so may be construed as P2W). Microtransactions for non-gameplay related cosmetics are a gift from the heavens. I haven't paid for a single microtransaction in Overwatch, yet have 2+ years of absolutely free content, new heroes, game modes, maps, etc.

The only other thing that would work without being intrusive or punishing to the casual gamer is something along the lines of a patreon model.

Create a tiered, monthly subscription-based service for the most hardcore fans of a game, provide these people with early access to content (like Overwatch's PTR, but exclusive to subscribers), some exclusive cosmetics, developer Q&A sessions, and maybe some cheap, limited print T-shirts every once in a while.

This way, you can finance the development of new content without placing the burden of that financing on the casual player -- and you give the hardcore fans a more intimate, participatory experience of the game.

 

[DonF]

I still can't believe no company has come up with the very first type of micro transaction. The "INSERT 1 CREDIT TO PLAY/CONTINUE"
I mean, let's go back to arcade levels of play. You download the game for free, start it, then you get greated with a lovely prompt to link the game directly to your fucking bank account. Wanna start, it's $0.25. you lost? You have 30 seconds to continue, press X to have another $0.25 taken from your account, it's seamless.

 

[EviLore]

Fortnite.

 

[n0razi]

Turn it into an MLM (bonuses through sales referrals).... Twitch streamers will love this

 

[Louis Cyphre]

I still can't believe no company has come up with the very first type of micro transaction. The "INSERT 1 CREDIT TO PLAY/CONTINUE"
I mean, let's go back to arcade levels of play. You download the game for free, start it, then you get greated with a lovely prompt to link the game directly to your fucking bank account. Wanna start, it's $0.25. you lost? You have 30 seconds to continue, press X to have another $0.25 taken from your account, it's seamless.

That's ok for fighting games and how much money would it cost you to finish Skyrim?

Fortnite.

Yes, plus Overwatch and DOTA.

 

[Hendrick's]

Pay to save.

 

[WaterAstro]

Episodic for everything. Each episode is 10 minutes long!

 

[Imtjnotu]

Pay to save.

Then we go back to nes days and you never turn the machine off. I'm in

 

[LucidFeuer]

GTA V, no question.

It's not just about trying to rip-off and scam users as much as you can, because unless you're a dumb CoD player, most people notice hence the Battlefront II polemics...

"Game as a service" like GTA V did it is the best format for now: you pay an entry price depending on value/age of the game to get
1.1 A base single player campaign for people who want to play a narrative solo game
1.2 extend it with free update and DLCs to sustain value and sales
2.1 Have modding or such functionality for people who like experimenting/sandboxing with games
2.2 have an integrated store for free/paid mods from various creators .
3.1 And of course online(s) mode(s) for people who like competition and multiplayer
3.2 extend it with free update and DLCs to sustain online interest and games
3.3 have a non-unitary currency that you can buy single-usage items (and no unique or unlockable items that should be accessible to any players) for people who want to get more or faster.

This format caters to the 4 main gamer profiles: casual/experiencer, collector/completionists, modder/experimenters and competitors without alienating any of the gamers with bullshit "no single campaign" game that have zero value to lots of people, or eternal grind/pay-to-win/unlock schemes.

 

[Basoes]

Have 1 game split it into 3, if you buy 1 you get the other 2 parts discounted

and sell a package featuring all 3 parts for 2x the cost

 

[Bradamante3D]

• Microtransactions
• Pay-2-win
• Pre-order bonuses
• Special editions
• Season Passes
• In-game currency
• Lootboxes

• Establish a Real Money Auction House where people sell the items they found in game to other players for real money. Take a cut for every transaction (Diablo III, not released as a feature though)
• Let modders sell mods for real money. Take a major cut for every transaction (Bethesda on Steam)
• Sell champions for real money. Establish strong counter picks in the game. Force players who want to improve and climb to buy those champions (League of Legends - not even a dig at that game, actually their model is mostly fine)
• Have cosmetics in the game be trade-able through third party websites by creating a public API for it and tolerate websites that let you trade those items or let minors gamble for them using real money (Counter-Strike GO)
• Have pre-order(!) mactro-transactions(!) in the game, make those trade-able (see above). Establish a grey market by letting players "melt" their existing pre-order macro-transactions into new ones or letting them sell them, tolerate the websites doing it (Star Citizen)
• Ban gambling in your country. Tolerate gambling shops that pay out toys as prizes. Do nothing against the shop right next door that exchanges those toys against real money (Pachinko machines in Japan)

 

[Mr Hyde]

If I were corporate CEO that were in charge of a game I would first begin with announcing a big open world RPG. Because they are popular and bring in tons of money. The I would sell the opening scene, the tutorial level and final stage and ending as DLC. The sidequest would also be sold separately as well as any NPC character giving out said sidequest or any useful information for that matter. The weapons and armor would be sold separately and released over the course of six months, with the player being able to download the equipment once a week. The treasure chests in the game that hold valuable quest items will be loot boxes were you have to pay a fee to open it. It will feature no ingame currency so you can´t grind any of the items, you have to buy it with real money. And after putting all those sweet microtransactions in the game I would get fired by the board because no one would buy such a piece of shit game.

 

[Gander]

Dragonball Z MMORPG

You're welcome

 

[Redshirt]

GTA Online and Fortnite are obviously killing it.

Some of these greedy companies just don't get it.

If I was a CEO, I would heed the wisdom of Robert Duvall's Bob Hodges in the criminally underrated Colors.

 

[BibiMaghoo]

Every game now has you mine bitcoin for the publisher or perform other revenue generating tasks on the side. I would offer incentives to log in just to perform those revenue tasks under the guise of unique modes or cracking a code etc that makes players want to participate while giving them game cosmetics in return.

 

[camelCase]

Sell subscriber credit cart information

 

[NahaNago]

Sell user information in the choices of clothes selection to the fashion industry when they have no extra boost in stats or abilities. Sell info on the first ideological choices you make in games to political groups. Have gamers have to "skip" a bunch of adds before playing your online game. pay a subscription to remove adds from a free to play game since ads would pop up every time you start go the game or go in the menu. Play radio ads in your online shooter at the beginning of every match .

 

[chilleverest]

Sell subtitles unlock option for non-native English speakers.

 

[rabbity-thing]

Activision and Ubi seem to think pumping out half finished games every single year is the way to go. There's been how many Ass Creeds and CoDs released since GTA V first launched?

Hey, I'll be the first to lament the cookie cutter nature of the Assassin's creed series, but I'd never consider them half finished. Ubi's biggest mistake with the series is that they try, miserably, to shoe-horn in a lot of unnecessary extra DLCish stuff that ends up making the core game seem cheap and paltry, but, in reality, the core game is usually fairly robust and overflowing with content.

 

[zwiggelbig]

I think that Rockstar has already created a near perfect money making machine with GTA V and GTA Online specifically. Think about it: the game came out back in 2013(!) and sold probably around 30-40 million units on PS3 and 360 alone, most of them for full price. A year later, they release the same game again for the new consoles, again selling roughly the same amount of copies, again mostly for full price. Add on top of that GTA Online, which is still one of the most played and viewed online games almost 5 years post release, which has probably made them the same amount of money they already made by selling the game, if not more.

Of course other companies can't simply copy what Rockstar did, because R* have the reputation, ability and trust from their publisher to work on their games as long as they want. But if I were a CEO of a games company, I would at least try to imitate what Rockstar did with GTA V, specifically the timing of the release (right at the end of a console generation) and the inclusion of a seperate online experience.

Good chance Cyberpunk is going to be like that. Release end of this generation then release on the new generation as well

 

[Strazyplus]

Have a F2P version and a full paid version, both games drastically different, f2p players are super weak vs paying players its a feature. and character customization is locked behind mircotransations and are timed unlocks. for f2p (basicly do everything on f2p side like dropboxes.

Meanwhile paying players get customization with some microtransactions that f2p can't get and is cheaper. basicly f2p players are purposely cannon fodder to players like npcs in titanfall vs players but slightly more balanced.