In a new interview, Raccoon Logic co-founder Alex Hutchinson is speaking out against the rampant use of microtransactions in the gaming world. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz at Gamescom, the Revenge of the Savage Planet dev shared his desire to return to the more traditional pay-once model.
“AI is taking jobs from people and I think it’s soulless, and then microtransactions are nickel and diming people,” Hutchinson said. “Why not just sell them something authentically instead of trying to get every last cent out of them? Let people own the game that they bought.”
The trailer for Revenge of the Savage Planet included this mindset, advertising ‘No AI content,’ ‘No metaverse,’ No DRM,’ and ‘No microtransactions.’
“Those are the things in the industry that we don’t like. We have a crazy plan to release [our game], charge you money for it, and then give it to you. I don’t know if it’s gonna work, but that is the hope,” Hutchinson continued.
“If you look at the healthiest company in games, it’s Nintendo and they never discount or do weird stuff, they sell you the game. So all this nonsense that all these other companies have done and worked up a fury have not worked, and they’ve put themselves in a race to the bottom in terms of pricing. Selling people a game is not a bad thing.”
Journey to the Savage Planet was released in 2020 for PC, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch. Raccoon Logic’s sequel, Revenge of the Savage Planet, is currently in development.
