World of Tanks dev drops ‘pay-to-win’ microtransactions

Free-to-play the way it should be

In a recent question-and-answer session with Gamasutra, World of Tanks developer Wargaming.net shared that it has decided to drop all “pay-to-win” microtransactions, a common issue facing the free market, from its current games and all games going forward. “Pay-to-win” has become a term for any purchasable item that gives players an unfair advantage over anyone who hasn’t put real money into the title.

Rather than putting a focus on selling enhanced items, the new revenue will come in part from cosmetic items, a strategy that has worked well for Team Fortress 2 and its many hats. While it might seem like they will earn less money this way, Wargaming is hoping that by providing a better gaming experience they will have more players, and gain more profit in the long run.

I’ve stayed away from World of Tanks because of all the talk about the “pay-to-win” economy, but now that they are changing things up I’ll be checking it out for sure. If you want to see what the changes are like, you can grab all of their games from Wargaming.net.

Wargaming kicks ‘pay-to-win’ monetization to the curb [Gamasutra]