Ex-Naughty Dog dev defends microtransactions: “You should pay for good work”

Naughty Dog has defended developers’ choices to include microtransactions in games.

One Uncharted developer has hit out at players that have criticised in-game purchases with real-world money.

Former community strategist, Eric Monacelli, has spoken out about microtransactions ahead of the launch of Uncharted 4.

“Microtransactions tend to get a sort of negative connotation in the games industry,” said Moncelli to MCV.
“If you remember back to the day, people bristled when they sold horse
armour [in The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]. It’s something that has
always happened.”

“But if it’s good enough content and you want to pay for it, why not pay for it? That’s what it comes down to.”

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Monacelli
spoke out about the reception of microtransactions in The Last of Us’
multiplayer mode, especially on the topic that certain content was held back from the original game just to make additional money later on.

“A clear-cut example of that is the burst rifle is The Last of Us.
A lot of people thought ‘Why are they charging for guns?’ We did the
research and noticed that a lot of players were having trouble jumping
into the game for the first time, so we wanted to give people a weapon
that was easily accessible and would give them a bit of a leg-up.”

Moncelli said that ultimately microtransactions are a matter of personal preference.

“There are hot debates around this all the time in the office, because everybody’s got their own opinion. For me, the more thought that’s put into DLC, the more you should be able to charge for it, because it’s one of those things where you’re creating another game unto itself – The Last of Us: Left Behind was another game. It’s essentially the second Last of Us game, right?”

“It’s work, and you should pay for good work.”