Activision Files A Microtransactions Patent
Microtransactions were all the rage toward the latter half of the year, and not in a good way. Publisher Activision was granted a patent by the United States’ Patent and Trademark Office last month that allows for “a system and method that drives microtransactions in multiplayer video games.” This didn’t go by well with industry fans who interpreted the move as just another way for big publishers in the vein of Activision to render consumers’ pockets dry before they’re even done playing the game they purchase.
As if to provoke things further, the patent even goes so far as to suggest that this microtransactions system could be implemented across a wide variety of genres so as to “enhance a level of enjoyment by the player for the game-related purchase, which may encourage future purchases.” The controversy evolved in such a way that fans were fearful that Destiny 2 would be the first game under Activision to use such features. These concerns had to be directly addressed by Bungie community manager David “DeeJ” Dague, who on Twitter claimed that “none of this functionality appears in Destiny.”
Activision has since stated that the patent was filed by a research team back in 2015 and has not been implemented in any of its games so far. It remains to be seen if consumers will see some form of it someday in the future, though judging from the industry’s climate today, Activision would be wise to go in a different direction.
