Microtransactions have increasingly become a plague on the gaming community, and even before they were so prevalent, players had been exchanging digital in-game goods for real-world cash for many years. These practices have become more and more prevalent throughout the years, not to mention more expensive and more obtrusive. Once upon a time, we were all incensed with costly cosmetics like horse armor. But in today's gaming landscape, microtransactions have become an everyday part of life.
Of course, some are more expensive than others. And we're not talking, like, a $5 piece of armor. No, we're talking excessively expensive. As in, "Who on Earth would buy this?" expensive. Keep scrolling to check out ten games with the priciest microtransactions and absurdly valuable digital goods.
10 OVERPRICED: FIFA Series
The FIFA series is easily one of the most predatory franchises on the market when it comes to microtransactions and pay-to-win mechanics. In 2019, B/R surveyed fans of the FIFA franchise and found a rather distressing fact. While a large majority of players have spent nothing on the game, upwards of 5% of players have spent over $1,000 on the game. That, on top of paying full price for the base game itself!
Perhaps even more distressing is the fact that 0.75% of the player base have reported spending over $10,000, and while that doesn't sound like much, that could easily be hundreds of thousands of people when you take into account how many millions FIFA sells throughout the years. The only reason this entry isn't higher is because the individual components don't cost much - it's just a core group of dedicated players keeping the microtransaction boat afloat.
9 RIDICULOUS: Pirate King Upgrade (RimWorld, $370)
RimWorld is a construction and management sim crowdfunded through Kickstarter. And, like a lot of Kickstarter projects, it continues to ask for more and more money. Case in point - the rather infamous Pirate King upgrade.
Essentially, it allowed you to create your own custom character which could then appear in other players' worlds. It sounds interesting, but it came was an extremely steep $370 price tag, basically ensuring that absolutely no one would take advantage of it.
8 OVERPRICED: Evolve
Evolve was considered a complete and total disaster upon release. On top of paying the full $60 for the game, players had the option of purchasing a myriad numbers of DLCs. This included $30 hunter packs, skins worth $3, and $7.50 playable characters, just to name a few.
Players began to take notice, and some eventually did the math. In the end, you could purchase all that the game had to offer for approximately $140. For one game. The content of which should have been released in the full game. Yeah, no thanks.
7 RIDICULOUS: Blue Party Hat (Runescape, $1,050)
RuneScape has been kicking it since 2001, amassing a player base of millions of people. Some people are so devoted to the game that they will spend thousands on simple cosmetic items. The Blue Party Hat is an infamous cosmetic item currently worth 2.1 billion gold.
Keep in mind that this hat doesn't even really DO anything. You just wear it and flaunt your wealth. One real world dollar is about two million gold in the game, so by that math, the Blue Party Hat alone is worth about $1,050 alone. And that's just for a hat that does nothing!
6 OVERPRICED: Grand Theft Auto V
There once was a time when the Grand Theft Auto series was devoted to its single player experience. But not anymore. Not once Rockstar made about a zillion dollars through GTA V's online component. There are numerous overpriced microtransactions to be found in this game, with one prime example being the Lazer Jet.
The jet can be purchased in-game for $6.5 million, which is not an insubstantial amount of money. One Megaladon cash card is worth $8 million in game, and the cash card costs $100 in real-life currency. So, you're essentially buying the jet for a little under $100. You may as well save up for a real jet!
5 RIDICULOUS: Pre-Made Character (World Of Warcraft, $9,700)
World of Warcraft was known as the definitive RuneScape killer. And, much like RuneScape, it is filled to the brim with some ridiculous microtransactions. Back in 2007, a well-equipped Rogue character was sold.
This character, according to engadget, "had both Legendary swords dropped by raid boss Illidan Stormrage, as well as 4/5 of a Tier 6 armor set." And the cost of this character? Just a meager $9,700! It makes one wonder if sheer nostalgia might prompt similarly absurd exchanges with WoW classic being all the rage.
4 OVERPRICED: Train Simulator
Train Simulator is not the type of game that goes mainstream. That said, the niche audience it has is WILDLY devoted. It's not necessarily one thing that makes Train Simulator such an expensive game, but a bunch of little things adding up to one nonsensical whole.
Death by a thousand cuts and all that. If you go on Steam, you can purchase every single bit of Train Simulator DLC for a head-shaking $7,500. Why can't developers just release full games anymore!?
3 RIDICULOUS: Dragon Slaying Sabre (Age Of Wushu, $16,000)
Age of Wushu is an action MMORPG released for Windows back in 2013. It's mostly known for the famous Dragon Slaying Sabre. Before the game was even released, the one of a kind Dragon Slaying Sabre was sold at an auction. Naturally, as with most one of a kind items, the price quickly ballooned into exorbitant territory.
The winner, a man from China, ended up purchasing the rare weapon for an unbelievable $16,000. We wish we had that kind of cash to drop on a piece of DLC.
2 OVERPRICED: EVE Online
You have to be REALLY devoted to EVE Online in order to buy this particular piece of DLC. Available on Steam is 15,400 PLEX, which is essentially the game's currency. And the cost of purchasing 15,400 PLEX? $500! That's right, you can spend an absurd amount of money in real life to get an absurd amount of money in the game.
We mean, it makes sense. But come on, who is honestly buying $500 worth of fake currency? To top it off, one player even paid $9,000 for a unique ship called the Revenant Supercarrier!
1 RIDICULOUS: Pink War Dog Courier (DOTA 2, $38,000)
It's no secret that DOTA 2 is filled to the brim with ridiculous microtransactions. After all, the game is entirely free to play, and they need to make their money somehow! But it all reached a fever pitch in 2013 when someone sold an ethereal flame pink War Dog courier for an astounding $38,000!
Essentially, someone paid an average salary for their courier to be pink. Yeah, there are some rare differences, but yeah, that's about all it was. Oh the things people spend their money on.