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Former Blizzard boss reckons you should be able to tip developers ‘another $10 or $20’ on top of $70 games“I know $70 is already a lot, but it’s an option at the end of the game I wish I had at times. Some games are that special”
“I know $70 is already a lot, but it’s an option at the end of the game I wish I had at times. Some games are that special”
Image credit:Rockstar Games
Image credit:Rockstar Games
The former president of Blizzard has suggested that players should have the option to tip developers after finishing a game. That’s on top of paying $70 for the game in the first place, mind.
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Mike Ybarra - who departed Blizzard earlier this year - proposed the idea in a post on X, saying “I’ve thought about this idea for a while, as a player, since I’ve been diving into single player games lately”.
Ybarra suggested that games such asElden Ring,Baldur’s Gate 3,Red Dead Redemption 2,God of WarandHorizon Zero Dawnhad “[left] me in awe of how amazing the experience was”, and wanting to give extra to the devs - both in recognition of both how good the games were, but also their lack of in-game microtransactions or paid DLC.
“At the end of the game, I’ve often thought ‘I wish I could give these folks another $10 or $20 because it was worth more than my initial $70 and they didn’t try to nickel and dime me every second’,” Ybarra wrote. “I know $70 is already a lot, but it’s an option at the end of the game I wish I had at times. Some games are that special.”
I’ve thought about this idea for a while, as a player, since I’ve been diving into single player games lately.When I beat a game, there are some that just leave me in awe of how amazing the experience was. At the end of the game, I’ve often thought “I wish I could give these…— Mike Ybarra (@Qwik)April 11, 2024
I’ve thought about this idea for a while, as a player, since I’ve been diving into single player games lately.When I beat a game, there are some that just leave me in awe of how amazing the experience was. At the end of the game, I’ve often thought “I wish I could give these…
Of course, that’s also in addition to the already eye-watering price of massive games in this day and age, which at least one CEO - Matthew Karch ofSpace Marine 2devs Saber Interactive -recently said was unsustainableand due to “go the way of the dodo”.
Image credit:PlayStation PC LLC
Unsurprisingly, Ybarra accurately predicted that “most will dislike this idea” while adding that “we are tired of ‘tipping’ in everything else” - to which I’d argue that it’s less the act of tipping itself and more the wider economic and business conditions requiring so many workers to rely on tips to make a living (and often even not that) - despite clarifying that he considers rewarding developers for making a great game as “different from a pressure to tip type scenario many face”.
Bear in mind, this is the same Mike Ybarra who only a few months ago said that“players want new content literally almost every single day”and developers must “monetise it in the right ways”, which is certainly something from one of the people involved withOverwatch 2’s much-criticised shift to a free-to-play game rotten with individual skins costing upwards of £20 last I checked.
Still, if the ability to tip developers directly ends up being a way to finally make this industry sustainable without simply making shareholders richer and punishing the very people responsible for its success is the solution, maybe he’s onto something after all. Personally, I won’t hold my breath.
