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Monetization, microtransactions, and loot boxes -- these are just some of the words that have become toxic within the gaming community of late. As such, video game companies are taking care not to attract the ire of players by making their titles seem too focused on those aspects. Among the latest to try and appease gamers is Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick, who assured the community that “Red Dead Redemption 2” is not about monetization.
The necessity for this particular response stems from the concern that the community has with regards to how the in-game economy of “Red Dead Redemption 2” would be handled. Many are worried that loot boxes are going to become its main reason for existence, which Zelnick waved aside. Speaking to GameDaily.biz recently, he says that their focus is not on the games-as-a-service model.
“Our interest is not games-as-a-service or single-player or multiplayer or episodic. Our interest is in captivating and engaging consumers with the best entertainment anyone makes, of any sort, and if we do that and then we give consumers even more great stuff to engage with it should work out well, and naturally the revenues and the profits will follow,” the Take-Two CEO told the publication.
Zelnick then said that he and his company still believes in the single-player model and the community’s willingness to enjoy such offers. Then again, “Red Dead Redemption 2” is going to have an online multiplayer mode, which inevitably means a constant stream of revenue for Take-Two. Zelnick simply shrugs this off by saying that they haven’t really talked about this part that much.
Whatever one may believe of Zelnick and his company, the CEO has been adamant in saying that their primary concern is making a good game, RDR2.com notes. As he puts it, “Red Dead Redemption 2” was created to become one of the greatest games about Western adventures in existence. If it can surpass the first title in the franchise, it might just be.
