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The Ethics of Mobile Gaming: Have developers gone too far? 🕹️⚖️
5K View2024-06-17There has been a steady rise in microtransactions, loot boxes, and aggressive monetisation strategies for a long time in the mobile gaming community, which leaves some questioning, have game developers gone too far in prioritising profits over player well-being?
Key Concerns:
😈 Predatory Monetisation:
Many games lure players with "free-to-play" models but then use manipulative tactics to encourage spending. Which can be effective against a lot of people, especially younger audiences who can be more susceptible.
🧠 Addiction and Mental Health:
Features like daily rewards and time-limited events can lead to addictive behaviors, particularlyin RPG games. More often than not, they require free-to-play users to spend hours a day performing daily tasks to keep up with other players who have resorted to using in-game purchases to stay ahead.
🧐 Transparency and Fair Play: Loot boxes and gacha mechanics can sometimes lack transparency. Should developers be required to disclose the odds of winning rare items to ensure fair play?
🔍Case in Point:
Gacha Games like Genshin Impact, Fate/Grand Order and Dragon Ball Legends make billions but face criticism for exploiting players’ desire to collect characters.
Loot Boxes in games like FIFA Mobile have started debates on whether they can be classed as a form of gambling.
What’s your take? Should developers be held responsible for Predatory practices? Or are these simply industry tactics that people shouldn't fall for?
Topic: Mobile Gaming Ethics, Microtransactions, Player Protection, Fair Play
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Comments
View desktop siteTapTap looks better
on the app 
siuuuuuu
2024-09-03
sometimes, yes
2024-09-04
You need to be self-aware. Don't fall into their mental traps. I love mobile games, but I'm tired of spending a large amount of time and money on them. I started tracking my time and money spent on gachas, and after seeing the results, I forced myself to make a change.
2024-08-14
Author likedHi, thanks for leaving a comment on the subject 😁. I quite like this idea of tracking your spending down to the last penny, players should definitely use this so they don't spiral into these traps
2024-08-20
I've mentioned this in a few of my game reviews, but I completely agree. The biggest problem with mobile gaming is not just the predatory marketing however; it's the lack of quality control. So many people can throw their games onto the app store, and majority of it is borderline adware with an hour-of-effort game thrown over it. Companies like Voodoo (the company you see in 90% of ads) make INSANE money off this, and it's absurd.
2024-07-30
Author likedAn interesting input. I think that's the main difference between Android and iOS. While iOS has a lack of variety due to the vast guidelines an app must adhere to in order to appear in their store, it's because of this that the general quality is higher than Android. While you can still see apps similar and including Voodoo products, they're not advertised as much. You are more likely to see apps that you can tell took a lot more time and care to make.
2024-07-30