A “trend” that has been going on for years now, thanks to the rise of streaming services, is that all sorts of companies and brands are trying to utilize “special bonus programs” to try and “encourage” their user base to buy in and get extra stuff, at the cost of a certain amount of money per month. It’s not truly a scam, but you do have to question why certain groups do it. For example, Rockstar Games did GTA+, which they’ve applied to GTA Online so that players could pay for it and get more bonuses from it. If that sounds risky, it is, and some really aren’t happy about it.
On Reddit, one player noted that a key yearly bonus that gamers knew to wait for has now been locked behind a purchase of GTA+:
“As many of you already know, Rockstar introduced a feature with GTA+ where you can collect passive-income from all your businesses (your safes) directly from your in-game phone instead of having to fly to every single business. Now GTA+ is also going to let you remotely manage technicians/staff for certain business operations with the in-game phone, instead of having to travel to each location manually.
These are features long-time fans have been asking for years, and they finally add them but only if you pay for GTA+. I spent over $10 million buying and filling five large cargo warehouses, waiting for the yearly double-money event like Rockstar has always done. When it’s finally my turn and it comes? It’s GTA+ only. A core event the whole community used to get, now locked behind a subscription.”
That is indeed frustrating, and something that Rockstar Games really should’ve thought about before putting it behind their subscription service. Some others took it one step further by noting that in the future, to truly “enjoy the game,” you’ll need GTA+:
“I have been predicting that GTA+ will be much more necessary in the next installment, GTA online will always be free but if you want to enjoy the game a subscription will be much more necessary, it seems they are definitely getting us ready for that type of news.”
If that is the case, then players absolutely have more to fear, as this kind of tactic is not unknown to many, and such predatory practices are done because groups like Rockstar Games know that some people will partake, which could force others to do the same.
It’s definitely something to keep an eye on.
