The company Activision Blizzard (WoW, Destiny 2, Overwatch) has filed a patent that is causing controversy. They don’t intend it to be perceived this way.
Activision Blizzard has created a matchmaking system that checks various variables to find the suitable players for a match. The patent was filed back in 2015, but only now has it been approved.
This is not a problem in itself, but the patent application includes examples that raise concerns. Because they link matchmaking to microtransactions.
Manipulated matchmaking is supposed to boost in-game sales
A variant of the system is intended to encourage players to spend more money in the cash shop.
The idea behind this variant of the system is that fresh players are matched with experienced players and then see: “Wow, what great stuff does that other guy have? I want that too!”
The system is supposed to entice younger players to buy items in the cash shop. It aims to boost microtransactions.
Examples in the patent application refer to first-person shooters
The system can also directly reward players for purchasing items. Thus, the system can place players who have bought a specific weapon into a match where that weapon is extremely effective.
The examples mentioned in the patent application relate to a first-person shooter but are also transferable to other game genres.
The gaming department Glixel of Rolling Stone, which first reported on this patent, drew the obvious conclusion and referred this patent to the current Activision shooter Destiny 2 – thus focusing the story, which was general, on Destiny 2.
Here, Activision has recently made clear how important the cash shop is.
System is not applied in Destiny 2 – it is just research result
However: Bungie has already responded and stated that the patent has no application in Destiny 2.
Activision goes even further and says that the patent was filed by the research department in 2015. The team is independent from the game studios. And the system has not been applied in any game.
Bad timing
Mein MMO believes: The approval of the patent comes at the worst possible time for Activision Blizzard. Stricter microtransactions in current titles such as Shadow of War, Star Wars Battlefront 2, or also Destiny 2 have heightened tensions. Players are currently more sensitive on the topic of “microtransactions” than ever before.
And the patent sounds like exactly the kind of psychological manipulation that really annoys players.
Related to the topic:
Destiny 2: Despite difficult mood, golden times in the cash shop – Bungie reacts
