GDC 07: "You can buy a better sunset"

by Andrew Yoon { Mar 9th 2007 at 10:05AM }

Microtransactions are going to be huge in Sony's upcoming Home. The service, which will be included in a future required firmware upgrade, will rake in the dough through three "revenue channels":

Object/item sales, such as new furniture.
Games/premium items
Advertising/B2B: in-game ads and other sponsorships may become common.

The revenue from Home will cover the cost of moderation and upkeep of servers, undoubtedly. However, one wonders if the "democratization" of this virtual economy is going too far. Buying a virtual couch is novel in certain ways, but where will the trend stop? Harrison, during the blogger's meeting, noted that "you can buy a better view, you can buy a better sunset."

Tags: gdc07, harrison, home, microtransactions, phil harrison, PhilHarrison, ps3, sunset

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Brandon @ Mar 9th 2007 10:26AM

I think sony's approach will be similar to how they price things in the PS Store. "Make it cheap, people will try it" Everything in the ps store is pretty much cheaper than wii and 360 offerings of the same type.

For instance, PSone titles rarely crack the 10.00 mark, while ten is the bar for N64 games. Downloadable aracade titles are under 20, while many 360 games, you end up paying more to get the whole thing (im looking at YOU lumines live). Not to mention some of the Dowloadable titles are console quality affairs (like Tekken 5 Dark ressurection which is still inexpensive).

Sony has probably realized that if they want people to pay for little things, they have to price it so low that people think of it as an inexpensive easy buy. Like perhaps charging something like a quarter for a new shirt, or A dollar for a personal pool table to play with in your apartment. If the price is small enough to not make people feel ripped, there will be many who will be bound to try it.

Andir3.0 @ Mar 9th 2007 6:24PM

Flow was $7. About the same price as me going out to eat one night at a fast food restaurant (not from the value menu) or less than a cheap sit down meal. I just justified my purchase by staying in and cooking something from the fridge.