Love them or hate them, in-game microtransactions are here to stay, even games with incredibly aggressive monetisation systems can make millions in a very short amount of time. In just two weeks Diablo Immortal gouged $24 million from it’s players.
Speaking to PocketGamer.Biz Unity CEO John Riccitiello said that any developers who are avoiding in-game monetisation systems in their game are the “most beautiful and pure, brilliant people,” but they are also “some of the biggest f***ing idiots.”
Read more: Upcoming Red Dead Redemption 2 Project Cancelled By Rockstar
Riccitiello is the former EA CEO which I’m sure shocks nobody, but is now the CEO of video game development tool Unity. Unity are set to merge with IronSource. an app economy software firm, hinting at Unity’s interest in expanding their in game monetisation system for developers.
“Ferrari and some of the other high-end car manufacturers still use clay and carving knives. It’s a very small portion of the gaming industry that works that way, and some of these people are my favourite people in the world to fight with – they’re the most beautiful and pure, brilliant people. They’re also some of the biggest f****** idiots.” he said when speaking about people pushing back about in-game purchases.
“It used to be the case that developers would throw their game over the wall to the publicist and sales force with literally no interaction beforehand. […] But this industry divides people between those who still hold to that philosophy and those who massively embrace how to figure out what makes a successful product.”
Riccitiello has since addressed his comments in the PocketGamer article in a tweet, saying it was “Clickbait. Out of full context. Deeply sorry if what I said offended any game dev. Absolutely love the people that make games.”