Mercenary Games

A term for games—video games, tabletop games, any form of play—that are designed not for fun, art, or expression but purely for profit, exploiting players through microtransactions, loot boxes, pay-to-win mechanics, and addictive design. Mercenary Games treat players not as participants but as revenue streams, not as audiences but as targets. They're designed by psychologists to maximize engagement and spending, not enjoyment. Mercenary Games are the dark side of the gaming industry, the reason your kid's favorite game costs $100 to actually play, the reason "free-to-play" is the most expensive model. They're games as extraction, play as exploitation.

Example: "He downloaded a game that looked fun—cool graphics, interesting mechanics. Three hours later, he'd spent $50 on loot boxes just to stay competitive. Mercenary Games had done their work: turning play into payment, fun into extraction. He uninstalled, but the money was gone. The game wasn't designed for him to enjoy; it was designed for him to spend."

Mercenary Games by Abzugal February 21, 2026