Dive into one of the most controversial topics in interactive media
Live service video games dominate the landscape and want players’ money. No doubt. The updates, flashy skins, and limited-time events never stop. They want to maintain interest with a clear strategy: spend a few pounds, grind a few matches, and earn rewards for the investment. But gamers are tired and seeing the flaws. Yet some studios have got it right, prioritising ethics and the player. Here is how things stand.
Since the late 2010s, live service games have boomed. And what are they riddled with? In-game currencies. It would be difficult to find one without them. Victoria Hood, 33, a freelance games and tech journalist, shared some insight on why triple-A studios find in-game currencies so appealing: “At the end of the day, publishers will be drawn to these things, because they are moneymakers,” she says. “That is why, as much as we’d like to believe, they always want to do what gamers want them to do. That’s not, unfortunately, the way their business is going to work all the time.” A recent example is Fortnite by Epic Games, which is receiving backlash. The battle royale’s digital coins, V-bucks, can be used to purchase cosmetic items, such as skins – outfits for your character. This virtual cash is bought in packs starting at £6.99 for 1,000, and within each tier, the price and exchange rate increase. That has now changed. Epic has kept the price the same, but the value of the packs has reduced by 20%, to, for example, from 1,000 to 800 – fewer V-bucks for your bucks. Despite Epic’s rewards compensation, users will spend more in the long term on customisation.
Speaking of long term, battle passes are another gimmick in the live service arsenal. By completing tasks incrementally, you earn cosmetic items on a free or premium tracker. The catch is the fear of missing out (FOMO). If you’re not dedicated, kiss goodbye to what you wanted. Not only this, but there is always a new one after every two or three months. Hood shared a sense of overwhelm: “How much do you have to play to actually reach the end of the tracker by the time that is finishing? Am I going to reach that end skin by 30 days?” There’s this gut-wrenching feeling of regret that arises from not quite getting it, and the fact that it’s locked away afterwards worsens the blow. Sometimes it goes too far. Sheila Irie, 30, a Twitch streamer, noticed that “a lot of people may only focus on getting exclusive skins through the battlepasses, rather than playing the game.” This negatively affects the gaming community, constantly putting them under pressure. What amplifies this monotony is that when every game in the market has one, it turns into a chore rather than a hobby.
NetEase Games’ Marvel Rivals, though, has bested FOMO – in a way. Once a battle pass is purchased, you own it forever. Come back and finish it later. The drawback, however, is that unclaimed rewards cost Lattice (gold), Rivals’ primary in-game currency. Fortunately players can convert lattice from Units, an earnable free currency. This is a significant turning point, allowing players to go at their own pace, instead of the need for daily engagement.
If it’s not battle passes, it’s loot boxes. These treasure chests contain digital prizes, selected by a random number generator (RNG). While in-game currencies have their flaws, at the very least, you can buy something specific. Here, a dice is rolled, luck is a major factor, and the chance of disappointment is high.
Genshin Impact, the gacha role-playing game (RPG) popularised during the pandemic, has faced serious allegations. Marketing their lootboxes, called banners, to children, failing to disclose the odds in them, and using a complicated digital currency system. Cognosphere, Genshin’s Singaporean developer, operates in the US as Hoyoverse. The company was fined $20 million by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for illegally collecting data. Genshin, then, denied the claims and settled an agreement, including an age restriction on loot boxes for under-16s.
But Belgium is ahead of the curve. Hood explained, “They’re probably one of the strictest countries in terms of if there’s any chance of something being worth real value money, or being able to trade skins for real value money, it’s a no-go.” According to the Video Games Federation Belgium, the country has outlawed loot boxes as a form of gambling, and it is illegal to sell them. The only exceptions are free rewards, such as Twitch drops. Also New York’s Attorney General, Letitia James, is suing the game company, Valve. Hood comments, “It’s going to be very interesting to see how that plays out, because it now means if they do that, are other states in the US going to start doing that? Is the UK then going to start taking it more seriously?”
All in all, loot boxes do bring benefits too. Irie said, “Loot boxes are a great way for you to attain a skin you wanted in the past.” For instance, Overwatch (formerly Overwatch 2) offers them entirely for free. Maybe its contemporaries will follow suit.
Collaborations have exploded in the 2020s. They entice players with skins featuring character designs and references to other media. From Marvel superheroes to slasher films like Halloween, and even anime. These generate hype, flooding the player count, and bring new players in – a sound strategy.
Yet not all skins are glitz and glamour. Irie explains how, “you can purchase pay-to-win [or lose] skins by accident. It’s a thing where developers can sell a broken skin, and people can actually have an unfair advantage.” For instance, skins can outline hitboxes, making the player an easier target in shooters. “It’s been the case with Apex Legends and Overwatch. They’ve had that problem,” she adds.
But Hood notes a major fault here, too: “What you’re spending your money on isn’t a tangible thing you can hold in your hands. If you go out and buy your friend a pair of shoes, you have a pair of shoes. You have something in your hand you can hold and say, ‘This is what I own,’ especially with online service games. It’s like you have it, but you do not technically, necessarily own that thing.” Everything you possess in online games is in the hands of the developers. They have control over your money and items, and if the worst comes to worst and the servers shut down, all you have invested in will disappear. And the gaming companies will not refund you. They are not obligated to. While gaming titans like Fortnite are not going anywhere in the foreseeable future, take a moment and ask yourself, what exactly am I buying here?
Next up are the new entrants to the gaming world. Once in a while, a replica hero shooter appears, with a twist. It follows a cycle: huge investment, bland character design, poor performance after release, and then an inevitable shutdown. The infamous Concord was a major disappointment. Hero shooters are successful, but they are difficult to break into as the competition is very stiff and often more polished. So fans will not migrate to a weaker variant. For instance, 70% of PS5 and Xbox users in the US played the top 10 live service games in January, according to Eurogamer.
An exception to this has been Marvel Rivals, which can attribute its success to the backing of the Marvel intellectual property (IP) and the loyal fanbase behind it. But, four years in the making and billions put in, reported by The Guardian, Concord is a cautionary tale. Highguard followed the same route. Shared by BBC News, the arcane science-fiction shooter closed its servers almost two months after its release. Only reinforcing that gamers are not satisfied.
With that said, there is a new direction in monetisation, now in the hands of creators. Since December 2025, Epic Games has allowed Fortnite creators to sell their own digital items. Yet, due to Epic Games’ deduction of V-Bucks packs, they will earn less. Hood observes that, “rather than these companies necessarily selling the stuff themselves,” she said. “They’re almost outsourcing a little bit, where creators are now selling stuff, but they’re still benefiting from the money that’s coming in.
“So it’s an interesting way of … shifting the [blame]. ‘Hey, you can’t be mad at Epic Games, because they’re not the ones selling the item. This creator is selling the item,’ but they’re going to get money and rewards, or incentives to sell,” she said.
Bungie’s recent release, Marathon, is in a different lane, however. The extraction shooter has an upfront cost and additional microtransactions. Their currency, LUX, drew backlash after players received insufficient funds, leaving them short of a skin. According to IGN, Bungie fixed it, increasing the bundle to 1,120 and crediting 20 LUX for players who already bought it.
Here is Marathon’s launch gameplay trailer:
Video credit: Bungie: Launch gameplay trailer – Marathon
Live service titles need players’ interest to sustain revenue and keep the servers up. Although a world where cosmetics are cheap would be ideal, it’s not realistic. Many popular live service video games offer free rewards, and spending money is not necessary. But games such as Marathon and Marvel Rivals are moving in a good direction. Active communication from developers fosters a positive relationship with player bases. If other companies follow suit by listening to user concerns, games-as-a-service can maintain their place at the top.