10 Fan Backlashes That SAVED Video Games
3. Microtransactions - Payday 2
When Payday 2 launched in the summer of 2013, developers Overkill Software promised that they wouldn't ever plug microtransaction nonsense into the game.
But with the release of 2015's Black Market update, Overkill reneged on their word and indeed added microtransactions by way of weapon-filled safes which could only be opened with drills that players could pay to acquire with real money.
The fanbase quickly and aggressively pushed back, and though game producer Almir Listo initially defended the decision as funding their ability to increase the size of the dev team, the community kicked up a huge stink and simply wouldn't let the issue go.
And in mid-2016, Overkill's parent company Starbreeze Studios acquired full rights to the Payday IP from publisher 505 Games, and then promptly announced that all microtransactions would be removed from the game in the next update, with all safes then being openable for free.
Though the history of gaming is filled with examples of publishers beating their customers into submission and forcing them to accept a bum deal, in this case the community's persistent anger - in conjunction with a fortuitous change in rights ownership - allowed the good guys to win.