6 Dumbest Ways Video Game Publishers Tried To Get Your Money

"An unfortunate consequence of modern gaming."

Quoth Rob Jones, senior producer on NBA 2K19. 2K have been in a rather scorching spotlight recently, with their attempts at coercing their Belgian audience to convince their government, who had recently banned lootboxes, to allow them in NBA 2K19 for the sole purpose of making 2K more money. But that particular instance isn't why NBA is on this list. It's not just Belgium they've been pushing their money-hungry agenda on. It's all of us.

We've seen it in AAA releases numerous times before, but NBA 2K19 is here simply because it's the most recent. We saw it in Star Wars Battlefront II, but now building your entire game around an irritating grind to push players towards buying their way through the progression is back. 'It's all entirely optional' they'd say.

They're not wrong, but that's if you'll willingly put hundreds upon hundreds of hours into grinding to unlock something. Or alternatively you could pop in your card details and unlock it within minutes. Your choice.

This isn't a consequence of modern gaming. 2K are putting those systems in place.

So please, don't blame everyone else.