10 Insulting Video Game Features You Had To Pay For

Making loot boxes look fair.

By Michael John-Day /

If you are reading this, then chances are you adore gaming, and how could you not??

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The gaming industry gives players the power to take control of a whole new world, transporting them to many wonderful and fun places. However, for as much joy as gaming brings, there's no denying it's a business at heart.

Sure, plenty of developers strive to make the best games possible, and there's a massive culture of creators who make video games for the love of it. But, (and it's a big but) no major company hands its games out for free. Really, the overall goal is to score as much real-life robux, rupees, and Pokedollars as possible.

This has, naturally, led to plenty of devilish money making schemes, including pointless loot boxes, freemium gaming, pay-to-win live service games, and more. Running headfirst into a paywall like those drives gamers up the wall. Still, if you think they're bad, you ain't seen nothing yet!

The following ten entries asked gamers to shell out their hard earned money on insulting features, offering up basic elements and pointless additions for an absurd price.

10. Elvish Dialogue - Lord of the Rings: Gollum

Many Middle-Earth fans felt insulted by 2022's The Rings of Power, but damn, who could have predicted that an even bigger stain on Tolkien's legacy would rear it's ugly head barely a year later?

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The jury is well and truly out on Lord of the Rings: Gollum, as it's nothing short of abysmal. Still, that didn't stop the developers from trying to increase the amount of gold in their their dragon hoard by charging extra for Elvish dialogue. Yes, really!

As can be expected from a Middle-Earth game, the title is full of Elves, and as such, the devs wanted to include the Sindarin language to help with immersion. However, to actually hear this dialogue, you must either purchase The Precious Edition, or buy the Sindarin VO pack after getting the base game.

Daedalic put out a statement on this (reported here by Eurogamer), claiming they had to charge extra due to the cost of training the voice actors to learn the Sindarin language. But, come on, no one wants to pay more money for something that should have been there in the first place.

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