10 Ways The Gaming Industry Can Improve In The 2020s

8. Remove Pay-To-Win Mechanics

It’s undoubted that one of the most polarising changes to gaming over the last ten years has been the introduction of continuous monetisation when it comes to certain games. In-game purchases have become normal practice in the industry and the worst offender when it comes to this has been the pay-to-win model.

As the name would suggest, pay-to-win centres on hiding the best gear and abilities behind a paywall. Usually, players are forced to choose between a ridiculous amount of grinding or taking out the debit card to save time. In these cases, the grinding is deliberately made to be time-consuming and tedious, in order to encourage the player to spend money. You can also expect umpteen reminders that you can buy these items and abilities, should you choose to attempt said grinding.

This mechanic means that someone new can jump into a game and have an unfair advantage over an experienced player, purely based on their disposable income. It’s a toxic practice that deserves to be shunned. Some free-to-play games, such as Fortnite or Apex Legends, do understandably require in-game purchasing to stay afloat. However, this should be kept purely for cosmetics in order to keep the gameplay balanced.