Games are fuelled by competition. It is also a test of skills, strategy, and resilience.

But what if your skillset is not the only thing that gives you an advantage? What if your leverage comes from weapons and an arsenal that you can buy off during a stage?

What if it gives you endless lives in contrast to the limited lives that you are allowed to complete a level?

Does that make the game more interesting, or did that take the leverage off of your competitor who could not spend that extra dollar for a new weapon or an extra life – especially when your competitor is at a gaming advantage and you are not?

Cue, Pay-to-win games.

These are gaming environments where microtransactions influence gameplay, including extra weapons, spells, or extra chances that are particularly handy and can only be obtained by payment. In such games, your progress and victory depend mainly on the amount of money you are willing to spend on additional assistance.

In multi-player online games, microtransactions do create an extra revenue source for game developers. Games like Fortnite and League of Legends with microtransactions make the gaming experience cooler.

Microtransactions that only affect cosmetic elements like parachutes or skins do not give the player a competitive advantage in the game.

But that is not the case most of the time.

What is Pay-to-Win, Really?

Pay-to-win (P2W) refers to games where players can purchase items, upgrades, and advantages that give them a significant edge over players who do not make such a payment.

To judge whether a game is P2W, taking a look at the important abilities or weapons would provide a clear idea of it. If those give a competitive advantage and are behind a paywall, those games are clearly P2W.

So, why are P2W games frowned upon so much?

Well, as we know, simple microtransactions do not make a game P2W. Most of the games these days have microtransactions, loot boxes, bottle passes, and similar monetization systems.

"There are in-game purchases. You do not have to pay in the beginning, but, to advance in the game, it helps you a lot to pay," says Dr. Ingo Feidler, an economist from the University of Hamburg.

The problem arises when you lose a gunfight not due to the difference in skill but because the other player has a better card than you, which they bought in. Now, this is unfair and extremely frustrating.

The worst part is that you will need to spend a colossal amount of time and effort to avoid spending money and achieve all these features that other gamers simply bought in.

P2W Games in the Market

Star Wars Battlefront II, released in 2017, is the highest example of a P2W game. When the game was launched, the system was built around Star Cards, which provided gameplay benefits like healing after getting a kill and sometimes some movement speed.

Available in loot boxes, these cards are randomized drops that are earned through normal gameplay or by purchasing with real money.

This forces the hand of gamers to spend on more loot boxes and have more chances at unlocking powerful star cards. This clearly offers an advantage over players who did not pay and had to grind their way through to earn these cards instead.

In Dungeon Keeper, to avoid spending money, one will have to use up available gems (also bought for money) and spend days' worth of effort building new structures.

If you don't buy any gems, the gameplay grinds to a halt as you wait for every little task to complete.

This ruins the gameplay experience, all but forcing you to pay—and keep paying—if you want to keep playing at a smooth pace.

The Eroding Competitive Integrity

In online competitive games, fairness is sacred. Fairness is also what separates good design from glorified gambling.

Games like Clash of Clans or Call of Duty are immensely popular and free to play. The disadvantage arises when these games offer purchases that can dramatically speed up progress or enhance combat skills.

Imagine your seasoned hours of practice to build an arsenal wiped out by a newer player who just bought an upgraded weapon.

Ironically, leadership models would only reflect credit card warriors rather than skilled ones.

Restoring the Competitive Spirit

In the midst of all hopelessness, there are many indie and AA studios that are pushing against the wave.

Games like Among Us, Dead Cells and Hades have demonstrated that fair, skill-based gameplay can attract millions of players who do not wish to compromise on ethics.

This is why, when P2W is limited to cosmetic changes, it can still thrive among honest players.

If monetization is optional and separate from competitive advantages, the game is preserving the integrity of the player's skills and efforts.

It is when progress becomes transactional that the players start to check out. Progress must be earned, not bought.

It is high time the game studios asked the question: "are we generating revenue funnels or designing games?"

Edited by Harshajit Sarmah