Take-Two: Microtransactions are "to delight consumers"

By now, you all know the crack with micro-transactions, right? You know, those in-game purchases that you constantly get rammed down your throat? Yeah! THOSE.

We're going to go ahead and assume that you dislike them, right? Of course it's right, nobody likes them. Well, that's not strictly true. Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick doesn't mind them.

In a recent earnings call, Zelnick stated that "Our primary goal is to delight consumers and create a great experience. As you know, GTA Online is a free to play experience and there [are] opportunities for recurrent consumer spending within the game, and no obligation of course."

With GTA 5 having sold 32.5 million copies worldwide, it's been well in the runnings with annual releases such as CoD and FIFA. "We have enjoyed an extraordinary economic result," he said. "But the starting point for that economic result is delighting consumers, giving them a fantastic experience. And that's our focus in GTA Online.

"And the reason that we offer an opportunity to spend money in the game is that's coordinated with a great experience. We are not making decisions in order to extract value, we are making decisions to delight consumers. And that includes creating value.

He then referenced the biggest f#@ck up in GTA Online: "Yes, we had some issues with the currency," (click here for more) "Those issues have been addressed and we are not really focused on whether the catch-up or anything of this sort. You know as long as people keep loving GTA Online it's going to be great for us.".

*cough* As long as people keep spending real cash in GTA Online *cough*

"We made it plain that we prefer to expand resources after we see revenues not before," Zelnick said. "It's protected us greatly. We are very disciplined. And that means we are learning as we go. But the watchword here is about delighting consumers and keeping them engaged, not about monetization. The monetization comes with the engagement."

He really likes the word delight, doesn't he...

Let us know your thoughts on the whole situation. Micro-transactions go, or micro-transactions no?

Source: Earnings call transcript