The Microtransaction Investigation

Pay to Win

Battlefield: Play 4 Free is the only game that contains 'pay to win' items - or items which supply paying players with an appreciable advantage over free players. All items in the other games are either purely cosmetic, or can be earned through in-game actions (i.e. You don't have to buy them).

It’s this 'pay to win' idea that gives microtransactions a bad name. When you force the hand of your players to buy something to stay competitive, while all the time yelling 'IT’S FREE, HONEST' at them, you can pull up a chair and watch your players walk away.

The items aren’t cheap, either - they’re £7 each which is ridiculous when you can pick up Bad Company 2 for £10.

Getting the balance and cost of these items right can be very difficult, admittedly. Acony, developer of upcoming free-to-play shooter Hedone, recently told bit-gamer that while only 10 per cent of players will ever buy an in-game item, that figure can't be allowed to grow too much. If that 10 per cent becomes 15 per cent then free players will begin to see purchases as required to enjoy the game, and leave as a result.

The ABCs of DLC - Even without getting every item, League of Legends accounted for one third of the total price of everything.