Would you pay $500 for an in-game item?

Shawn Knight

Shawn Knight

Posts: 15,296   +192
Staff member

The free to play business model can be extremely successful for game developers, especially if you are able to convince players to pay upwards of $500 for a single in-game item. Mobile phone game maker Glu offers a title called Gun Bros where the top weapon in the game can be purchased for the equivalent of $500 real-world dollars.

Gun Bros is an overhead dual stick shooter for iOS, Android and Facebook. The game was released for free in October 2010 and features a robust in-game marketplace where you can upgrade weapons and armor.

According to TouchArcade, users can purchase upgrades two ways. The first method is by utilizing a coin currency which is generated for you at the end of a level based on your performance. 

Impatient gamers that want to advance through upgrades more quickly can purchase optional “war bucks” using real-world money. Additionally you can view in-app advertising or sign up for special offers to earn war bucks without paying anything.

If you have your heart set on the top gun in the game, called The Kraken, be prepared to view a lot of advertising or shell out a ridiculous amount of money to the tune of nearly $500.

The largest war bucks package sells for $99 and gives you 710 bucks to work with. The Kraken can be yours for 3499 war bucks, meaning you would need five $99 packs if you hadn’t already earned some through in-app ad participation.

Perhaps one of the eight people who bought the I Am Rich app a few years ago might be interested in The Kraken. At least this time they would get something useful for their money.

What is the most money you have spent on in-game purchases or DLC?

Permalink to story.

https://www.techspot.com/news/44965-would-you-pay-500-for-an-in-game-item.html

 
$19.99 for Semper Fi for Hearts of Iron 3, although it technically was more an expensive patch rather than a DLC.
 
I once spent $10 on a DLC (for TES: IV I believe). Although I technically only spent $8.70 due to the Credit Crunch's current dollar currency exchange rates.
 
That is just asinine. However, I do remember playing the MMORPG Asheron's Call, and when housing was first introduced (just a few houses at a time for the tens of thousands of players), they were being sold on e-bay for $5,000. And people - make that morons - were actually paying that!

As far as what I would pay, it would depend on the game, how much I'm into it and what the item was. Fallout 3 was the best game I ever played and they had a one-of-a-kind item in it. An alien blaster gun. Of course, it was free if you could find it. But if it had been a pay-for item, I probably would have paid no more than $20 for it. It was fun as hell disintegrating your enemies.
 
Thus why I said screw that stuff. Atleast in this game that the article is talking about, that there is atleast alternative ways to get it. The ones that I have tried (which is not that many) they have special stuff for ONLY people giving them money, screw people that are dedicated but not giving cash. Whatever....I could understand giving them some like the amount for a regular game but that's about it.
 
I paid for TF2 when it came out, and I've never paid for any items from the TF2 store (umadgabe?) and i've unlocked most of them for free... Not that any of them really made a huge difference. The whole "pay for some keys to maybe get some paint or some other useless ****" seems kind of retarded. At the end of the day, my 30 something refined get's me what I need, and you know what gabe... I DIDN'T PAY A ****ING DIME!! ahahaha
 
Wow! $500 for a ingame item. Yeah right id rather spend it upgrading my computer or paying bills lol
 
TomSEA said:
That is just asinine. However, I do remember playing the MMORPG Asheron's Call, and when housing was first introduced (just a few houses at a time for the tens of thousands of players), they were being sold on e-bay for $5,000. And people - make that morons - were actually paying that!

As far as what I would pay, it would depend on the game, how much I'm into it and what the item was. Fallout 3 was the best game I ever played and they had a one-of-a-kind item in it. An alien blaster gun. Of course, it was free if you could find it. But if it had been a pay-for item, I probably would have paid no more than $20 for it. It was fun as hell disintegrating your enemies.
Click to expand...
Almost all MMORPGS are like that. I used to play cabal, and the top guild in that game was made up of people spending 5k+ on in game items. One guy in particular spent over 20k on the game. I regret not selling my account =(. I could have gotten at least 1k from it.
 
LOL, I remember a man who spends $330,000 real-world money on virtual item for the game Entropia Universe. Some people have way too much money and not enough brain cells.
 
Would rather not pay diddly squat for those things, but most I've spent on game add-ons is $15 and that isn't even in-game stuff. Its just the DLC for Call of Duty, lol.
 
It is really absurd. Although, they are most likely hoping for kids to buy it through their parent's credit card without the parents realizing what the child has done, until it's too late.
 
Stupidity should be illegal..... and the punishment should be summary execution...
That way the punishment would fit the crime....lol
 
red1776 said:
massively multiplayer online role playing game....and no i don't...NNOOOOOO!
Click to expand...
Well first, I thought that's what the "Techspot Forums" were....!

Also, did you know that "ORPG" is an anagram of "gorp". Which, if I can believe ancient urban legend, is a colloquial term for somebody who farts in the bathtub, and bites the bubbles...:haha:

Yeah, that probably should get, and verily deserves to be, pulled......
 
First off let me say I'm not a big gamer.

The thought that someone would purchase an in-game item simply because they have the money to spend, discourages me from even thinking about trying the game.

The only way I would ever consider such a game would be if I knew, such purchases would not unbalance my game play, if I decided not to purchase the in-game play items.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

Shawn Knight
Nintendo emulator Delta lands on the Apple App Store, now the top free app
Replies
7
Views
99
Ashford
A
midian182
Card game creator says it paid an AI artist $1,500 per hour to create its images, stating "no one is on his level"
Replies
17
Views
219
Puiu
Puiu
E
Apple opens up the App Store to allow retro game emulators
Replies
8
Views
157
Theinsanegamer
T

Latest posts

Back