Consumer perspectives towards monetization and its impact on AAA game designs

Sammanfattning: Monetization is now a fundamental aspect of video game creation and currently, all developers are trying to utilize it in the various designs of their games. Contemplating the monetized aspect of video games, this research has seen a gap in the studies pertaining to monetization from the perspective of the consumers, who are also the gamers and the buyers of these monetization designs. This paper approaches monetization from the perspective of consumers to bridge that lacuna. It aims to gain insights into the consumer mind by initiating a conversation between previous theories and present discussions to arrive at a middle ground on monetization in AAA games between consumers and game designers. It achieves this by the use of an online survey and semi-structured interviews with core and casual consumers. Furthermore, this research is supported by a discourse analysis on YouTube by game critics and reviewers. The results of the study showed that monetization is beneficial to independent developers and mobile games, it is also beneficial in AAA games if it is left to the part of the game design that does not affect the quality of the game. For example, cosmetics and DLCs, as long as those DLCs are not gated game lore that consumers are forced to buy. The impact of monetization on AAA games is a fifty-fifty issue on the part of the consumer and developer. The financial impact consumers project to developers justifies the rationale for the continuity of monetization models regardless of the quality of the games design. In the future research is needed to better understand consumer perspectives on monetization, particularly among consumers who have grown up in different gaming eras. Additional studies with larger sample sizes should be conducted in order to make valid generalizations and capture the perspectives of teens. Future studies should also focus on games and game studios that have implemented micro-transactions successfully, considering game design quality, revenue, and customer satisfaction.