So as the new job posting has confirmed the apparent use of predatory microtransactions within Halo Infinite: The phrase “AAA player investment” adding salt to the wound.
Other key phrases; such as “express their passion”, and “comprehensive understanding of player psychology” paint a dark picture for Infinite’s future post launch, in which a staunch anti-consumer position will be taken through a microtransaction market.
When I heard the news for infinite, and for MCC coming to PC, I felt more excited for any game release than I have in the last 5 years. To have Halo come back felt like a dream come true. The transparency 343 has shown over Pc development and the care with repairing the MCC made me believe that this series was on it’s way to a renaissance. However these few lines of text have dashed all my hope and thoroughly shaken my hopes for this game on release and it’s future; the nostalgic visuals and classic sound design now simply a honeytrap in my mind. What was originally almost my first pre order since 2009 has now become potentially a second hand buy; personally I do not enjoy to have microtransactions and advertising shoved down my throat for a game I have already paid full retail price to own.
We all know that microtransactions are not needed these days; look at the success of games such as God of War, Nier: Automata, Devil May Cry 5, Doom 2016, The Witcher 3, just to name a few.
So please, please 343, reconsider this. Fans will be expressing rage more than their passion if you do this. Halo as a franchise has fought a hard battle to regain some of it’s original prestige, but it now stands on a precipice; one in which it could be cast beyond the point of return.