Game Development Costs Rise As Mark Darrah Suggests Product Placement and Brand Integration Instead of Aggressive Microtransactions
The cost of developing new games is increasing constantly and it is because of that that publishers are leaning on the game world with increasingly aggressive microtransactions and other means to ensure that money invested returns. However, an industry veteran has said it is possible to break this cycle through business model long utilized in the mainstream film industry. Instead of forcing players to be bombarded by microtransactions, developers could seek integration of brands to assist with budget issues.
This viewpoint was recently aired on Mark Darrah’s YouTube channel. Darrah, a programmer on Baldur's Gate and director of Baldur's Gate 2: Dragon Age and Dragon Age: Origins and Dragon Age 2 on consoles, proposed that exclusive corporate partnerships could shoulder a considerable portion of development cost prior to release, pointing to 1997 James Bond flick Tomorrow Never Dies as precedent as it had already more than offset the entire production budget via corporate endorsements prior to ever coming out.
The primary reason for this suggestion comes from a concern with the current trend toward live services, which he says damages player relationships with products and to the "untenable business model which actively compromises player relationship to the product"
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The whole service model is geared toward pushing microtransactions directly between the player and gameplay for leverage. I can’t think of an analogous model in film.
Without these alternatives, he is concerned it will become difficult for a "narrative driven premium release"
such as the 2021 Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy to exist within a culture that rewards continuous monetization and suggests a more direct model of integrating real world brands into single player games would "have money available for the single player games"
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We just keep pushing toward microtransactions. It has caused certain kinds of games to flourish at the expense of others and that is why I think things like product placement should be considered. I am not sure that it is a good solution, but it is a potential solution to consider since the service model doesn't work for all games, as I hope we can finally agree on.
This model is already in use in a lot of games such as James Bond games where, such as in the newest 007 First Light where we have seen that James Bond uses an Omega watch, Drives Astons, Jaguars, and Land Rovers and has Coke vending machines within MI6 Headquarters, or in Resident Evil Requiem for which luxury products like the Porsche Boxster and a Hamilton watch could be obtained and seen in game play. Although this type of commerce might feel like a violation of the sacred space within video games to some, it may be our last recourse.
