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People have been voting with their wallets; that’s how we got here.

A few recent microtransaction touchstones come to mind.

GTA Online

Just this month, Nexon’s new looter shooter The First Descendant buckled under an influx of new players.

“Even the Fight Lounge servers are costly to maintain.

In the past there weren’t so many specs and there wasn’t online.

The two characters in Split Fiction in futuristic bodysuits staring at a huge crack in the simulation they�re in

Plus they didn’t have such high resolution and high definition.

Now, so many people want the game to run and be supported for a long time.

It costs money to continually update the game for that reason.”

a halo screenshot put on a nintendo switch 2 screen

WalkScape

Minecraft movie image of Jack Black as steve

Teamfight Tactics key art for Arcane set featuring young Powder and other characters

A sprite sheet for Hollow Knight Silksong

Borderlands 4 vault hunter characters standing

Oblivion Remastered at night

Oblivion Remastered

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Podracing on a screen in Andor season 2 episode 4

Eva Victor as Agnes in Sorry, Baby

Mister Terrific in Superman

Articulate box, cards, board, and tokens on a wooden table

The cast of Thunderbolts standing in an elevator during the trailer for the upcoming Marvel Phase 5 movie.

Logan Kim as Hershel and Lauren Cohan as Maggie in The Walking Dead: Dead City season 2