Earlier this week, a press preview of Diablo 3 revealed a number of controversial features that are to be included in the upcoming title. One that’s causing a particular stir online is the planned presence of an in-game facility to trade virtual goods for real-world cash.
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| Diablo 3, upcoming from Blizzard. via Blizzard.com |
This raises a number of concerns—some of which are undoubtedly valid— but we shouldn’t be surprised that this is happening. The way that games are monetised is changing and, whilst there are better and worse examples to be found, there’s no reason that this trend can’t ultimately be a good thing for both the industry and us gamers who are putting down the cash for the end product.
There are however two parts to this discussion, and it will be split amongst two posts. The first, below, is about the changing monetisation of games—that is, how we pay for them. The second, to follow, will be about content and the concept of virtual ownership—that is, what are we paying for? We’ll come back to Diablo 3 more specifically in the second part.
