Latest Game Monetization Trends: Microtransactions and Battle Passes

I already spent money on the game

IMO this is useless without distinguishing between platform.

Namely, Mobile vs everything else.

Ingame purchases are a fucking cancer. Most games feel like a gambling place instead of a whole new World. Should be completely and totally banned for everyone under 21.

The same as Warframe, basically.

• Standard Quick Buy options, weapons, armor, pacts and bundles as they are now.
• Cosmetic accessories and Armor Skins (This is actually really big, they've talked about making cosmetic attachments have anchoring points you can reposition so they have room to make these SUPER desirable)
• Wyld Access Packs once they start putting those out, with featured bonus cosmetics.
• Chordstones are fine, though the crafting options are a bit lacking in the current iteration. It's basically just Forma again so I don't see the problem.
• Inventory Slots, as these are one of the big ones for Warframe, and rightly so. As long as we get something similar to Nightwaves, I think this will mostly be alright.
• Mount Skins seem totally reasonable as an option.
• Moonsteel Weaves are also fine.

At the end of the day, I really don't think there's that much to worry about for the future in the shop. DE have proven that if they make something wildly eggregious that they will not only gut it, but will figure out some form of compensation.

Long as they don't deviate too much from the Warframe monetization scheme, I really don't see the finalized and/or Just-Before-Gold situation being bad enough to warrant much. A lot of the issues that are going on right now are the state of them trying to figure out how to guide people to Zenith without it being insulting or problematic and, with basically every in game system being in a constant stat of flux, the friction is high. Once the systems are finalized and stable, I don't anticipate things being too bad at all.

You can monetize your game without it being pay to win.

This is one of those times where it’s important to realise that more words does not make a better argument.

This is a lot of words to cover for not being able to resist buying DLC and incorrectly comparing fighting games to single player games with a start and end.

You don't play Warframe do you.

Believe it or not, this is actually an improvement from what we had before (not saying it's good).

Back in the SF4 days, you'd have multiple editions of the same game and have to rebuy it every year/other year in order to get the balance patch, new characters, and keep up with the community since there was no joint matchmaking. You'd have Street Fighter 4, Super Street Fighter 4, Street Fighter 4 Ultra, Super Street Fighter 4 Ultra, Street Fighter 4 ULTRA Edition To the MAX!, Street Fighter 4 Super Street Fighter, and so on.

Like it was bad, bad. Now at least we get the balance updates for free.

It is great to see that the revenue of full game sales has still been continuously climbing. It hints hat the other models might be just additional to the full game sale system rather than a straight up replacement of it.

I just got monetized today. Ask me anything!

FYI: my content is purely organic content created by ME. No reused content, no AI, no low-effort memes, etc.

A little about me and my channel: I run a tech channel, reviewing gaming keyboards, mice, headphones, tech gadgets, etc. I post on YT Shorts only.

Feel free to ask me anything in the comments! I'd be happy to help :)

So I only read like 1/5 of the comment, it's way too long.

I remember the times where Blazblue came out with a new game every few years. The game was just the old game with a little bit of extra content in a couple of cases, a few new characters, and balance changes. Did you want to keep competing with other playes? Then you had no choice but to buy.

The new dlc strategy is somewhat similar; I bring my PS5 to locals and need all the DLC anyway. But a lot of players only play at home and don't buy all the characters. For them it's an improvement.

At the end of the day the devs can't work on the game for free. Either you get patches and extra characters for a price or the alternative is the game launching as is without updates. The genre is extremely niche, Guilty Gear Strive managing to sell over a million copies over a year after release is a huge success.

I’ve seen this a lot in RPGs and mmorpgs. I would like to really discuss what our expectations from what we receive from games versus what we expect to pay. I’m seeing this common theme since the rise of free to play gaming and I’d like to see people’s perspectives. I feel like a lot of people forget these are businesses first and they aren’t just some charity passion project. Having a game be free to play with live service ultimately leads to micro transactions because there is no other path to consistent money flow. As I browse the sub I’m seeing a general theme of dissatisfaction with micro transactions. So what’s the solution that keeps the game free to play in all ears.

I hear you, and honestly, it’s hard to disagree from a player's perspective. The data shows a massive financial 'success,' but it doesn't show the cost to game design itself.

When you look at how small the 'Premium' (Full Game) slice has become compared to the rest, it’s clear that many studios are now incentivized to build systems around monetization rather than pure world-building or mechanics. It's a huge shift from the 2005 era shown on the left. I appreciate you sharing the frustration—data is one thing, but the actual gaming experience is what really matters.

100% on Let's Plays—that format is dead in the water for new channels unless you already have a massive personality built up.

I’ve been going through a bunch of videogame genres lately that I never really played seriously before, trying to get out of my usual comfort zone.

And fighting games have probably been the biggest surprise so far. Not because they’re difficult. I expected that. What I didn’t expect was how different the community is, how much tribalism there seems to be between games, and especially how fucking bad the monetization is once you actually try to get into the genre as a new player.

I’ve spent the last days researching what game to buy, talking to friends (with very little success because almost nobody I know plays fighting games), reading Users and Steam discussions, watching videos, etc.

I was mainly deciding between Tekken 8, Street Fighter 6, Guilty Gear Strive and Mortal Kombat 1. I ended up buying Tekken 8

And I already knew about the whole Tekken 8 monetization controversy before buying it, so I decided I am only going to buy the base game because it was 17€ on a key shop. The Tekken Shop being introduced shortly after launch, the premium currency, the battle pass, the backlash about content being monetized after people had already bought a full-price game… I’m not discovering any of this now. But seeing the whole thing from the perspective of someone actually trying to enter the genre makes it feel even worse.
Because this isn’t a free-to-play game.
You’re buying a full-price game for around €70.
Then the characters added over the years are paid DLC. A season of characters can be around €30. Individual characters in games like Strive are around €7. Then you have cosmetics, battle passes and premium currencies on top of that.

And I’m sorry, but at some point I don’t think “you don’t have to buy it” is a very good defence anymore.
Obviously I don’t have to buy skins.
I don’t have to buy every DLC character.
I don’t have to buy the battle pass.
But if the whole selling point of these games is that they’re supported for years, constantly adding characters and keeping the playerbase alive, then why is the solution to keeping the game alive making the players repeatedly pay for access to the new content? Again, this isn’t just about Tekken, is about the whole genre

That’s the part I don’t understand.
The entire argument for live-service fighting games seems to be “we need to keep adding content so the game stays alive”. Okay. But then the business model becomes “pay us again every time we add something”. That’s a pretty convenient system.

And it gets even more ridiculous when you compare the price/content ratio to other genres.
- Hollow Knight: Silksong is 20€.
- Stardew Valley is 14€. Still being updated.
- Celeste is 20€.
- Hades is around 25€.
- Elden Ring is 60€.
- The Binding of Isaac started at around 15€ and has received an absurd amount of content over the years (recently bought it all for like 5€).

Obviously these games aren’t directly comparable. They’re completely different genres and have completely different development costs.

I’m not saying “Tekken should cost 10€”.
I’m saying that when I look at what 20-60€ buys me in other genres, it makes me question what exactly I’m paying 60-70€ for in some fighting games. Skins? Characters I should have?

Especially when the single-player content can be quite limited: Strive’s story is basically a huge cinematic/visual novel. SF6 at least has World Tour, and MK has a proper story campaign, so I’m not saying every fighting game is just an online mode with a character select screen.

But the competitive multiplayer is clearly the main attraction.
And that’s fine. I can absolutely see why someone could spend thousands of hours playing Tekken and think 50& is a bargain (I still think it should grant you every new content they make).
But that’s because they LOVE Tekken.
I’m talking about the person who doesn’t know yet if they love Tekken.
That’s the person I’m worried about.

Because as a newcomer, you’re already taking a massive risk. You have to learn the mechanics, learn a character, learn matchups, learn terminology, get destroyed for 50 hours, figure out why you’re getting destroyed, etc.
And then you’re also looking at a game where the “complete” experience keeps expanding behind additional purchases.

This is also where the community side of things has surprised me. Trying to research which game to play was honestly exhausting. Tekken players will tell you Tekken is better. Street Fighter players will tell you Street Fighter is better. Then both will make fun of anime fighters. Then someone will explain that Smash isn’t a real fighting game. I understand that Smash is fundamentally different from traditional fighters. I’ve played Smash myself.
But why does “different” so often turn into “shit”? (And coming from outside the genre, Tekken and Street Fighter honestly look much more similar to me than they probably do to someone who’s been playing these games competitively for 15 years. I just took the one where characters and story looked cooler, that’s all).

If you’re a new player just looking at the games, the community doesn’t exactly make it easy to figure out which one is for you. And meanwhile, everyone is arguing about which game is better while companies are slowly normalising a monetization model that, from the outside, looks fucking awful.

The Monster Hunter comparison is what really got me thinking about this, specially being from Capcom as SF6 is too. I’ve also been playing Monster Hunter Wilds, which has received plenty of criticism for its launch state and for feeling like it was missing content. People were complaining that Capcom was adding monsters and content later instead of having everything ready at launch. But the additional monsters are free. Not like new season characters.

And that’s what makes the fighting game model seem even more backwards to me. The whole justification for supporting a fighting game for years is that you need to keep the game alive. Exactly. Keeping the game alive should benefit the playerbase. More characters, more stages, more balance updates, more reasons for people to keep playing and have new player base. Instead, the fact that the game is kept alive becomes the reason to keep charging the player.

I’m questioning why the genre has ended up combining:
full-price game + paid characters + season passes + battle passes + cosmetic shops + premium currencies
and somehow this is considered normal.

It feels like taking the monetization systems I dislike from mainstream live-service games and putting them on top of a 60-70€ fighting game.

Maybe I’m completely wrong here. I’m genuinely interested in hearing what longtime fighting game players think. Fighting games are arguably one of the oldest proper videogame genres, and somehow the monetization today can feel like an evolution of the old arcade model: instead of putting a coin in every time you lose, you buy the game, then pay for the characters, skins and passes on top of it.

As someone trying to get into fighting games for the first time, my biggest surprise isn’t how hard these games are.
It’s that getting into the genre feels like I’m being asked to buy a subscription to a hobby I haven’t even decided I like yet.

Hey everyone,
Looking for some real insights on what is actually working for gaming channels on YouTube right now in 2026.
What content formats, hooks, or pacing are driving the most retention and growth lately?
It's no secret that traditional, unedited Let's Play series are no longer viable for growth in today's YouTube landscape.
For creators seeing real traction right now:
What specific formats (e.g., challenge runs, narrative storytelling, deep-dive essays, concept-driven edits) are driving the best retention and views?
How are you adapting your content style to build an audience that actually leads to revenue/monetization in 2026?

Would love to hear what strategies or pivots have made the biggest difference in your channel's success recently. Thanks!

I built this motion-based web game site over the last 2 months. move your head to throw flames, raise your eyebrows to throw bombs, and smile to activate overdrive.

So far it’s free. However, I want to monetize this with ads or sell it with a life time access. I thought it was a good concept, but so far I haven’t advertised it at all. Traffic is really low (average about 20 visitors). I have zero idea how to get some traction.

I also got rejected by Google AdSense twice with the reason “low value content,” even after fixing everything they mentioned.

Is it even possible to monetize this kind of idea/website?

the website is

everything is free now

Heyo, i haven't played in a very long time, and when i did, i refunded it, but i was thinking of getting it again recently.

How is the monetisation? Do the heroes genuinely cost 20 euro each? A bit confused and they don't make it super clear

Thanks :)

Hey everyone,
Looking for some real insights on what is actually working for gaming channels on YouTube right now in 2026.
What content formats, hooks, or pacing are driving the most retention and growth lately?
It's no secret that traditional, unedited Let's Play series are no longer viable for growth in today's YouTube landscape.
For creators seeing real traction right now:
What specific formats (e.g., challenge runs, narrative storytelling, deep-dive essays, concept-driven edits) are driving the best retention and views?
How are you adapting your content style to build an audience that actually leads to revenue/monetization in 2026?

Would love to hear what strategies or pivots have made the biggest difference in your channel's success recently. Thanks!

Hi everyone!! Im new of this type of stuff and I hope you all could show me a warm hospitality and welcome on this blog. I wanted to do faceless content on YouTube but I just dont know how or where to start. I'm always a admirer of the funny memes of kpop and I wanted to try. Hopefully i can be successful and started to earn some income since im a uni student. Can anyone plz give me some tips and a good editing software so I can get started?? Your help would be much appreciated.