8 Ways The Video Game Industry Punishes Its Most Loyal Consumers

3. Microtransaction Systems Are Only Ever Designed To Exploit

You have to imagine that despite the torrents of negativity levelled at their existence since day one, many top-tier publishers resigned to biding their time until a suitable change in generations occurred, as now you have many teenagers and younger gamers actually expecting or trying to justify the existence of microtransactions.

And why? Because they're the new standard. It's assumed that there'll be some sort of storefront or additional 'currency' in a video game that'll allow you to bypass a particular level, acquire a piece of gear or pull off a specific ability.

Couple this assumption with the proliferation of 'blind boxes' and 'loot grinds' - something even the single player-only Shadow of War now has - and you genuinely have a gambling ethos embedded in your video game.

Want to "get lucky"? Pay a few coins, roll the dice and hope for the best. If it doesn't work, try again.

These mechanics are only geared at the young and impressionable or those with tons of disposable income - both of which keep the business practice alive, and getting around the fact that full price should equal full product.