While there has been a bit of a backlash from gamers towards game companies that put microtransactions in their titles, Naughty Dog’s former community strategist Eric Monacelli has gone on record defending them. Speaking to MCV, about the post release DLC that will be added to Uncharted 4, Monacelli said that the games industry has made a number of changes of the last few years but gamers have always adjusted and come to accept those changes.
“Microtransactions tend to get a sort of negative connotation in the games industry,” he explained. “If you remember back in the day, people bristled when they sold horse armour [for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion]. It’s something that has always happened. But if it’s good enough content and you want to pay for it, why not pay for it? That’s what it comes down to.” He pointed to the original backlash when microtransactions were first introduced in The Last of Us. While there doesn’t appear to be microtransactions beyond DLC planned for Uncharted 4, there are more and more games that are bringing this kind of extra paid content.
Rainbow Six Siege developers have also said they will be adding some sort of microtransactions when that game launches. We’ll have to wait and see whether or not there will be good enough work that Uncharted 4 developers feel you should pay for extra little tidbits until March 18, 2016 when it finally releases.