A term used to describe members of the games industry that use patches for their games to reduce the value of those games in order to sell a solution to the problem they create.
This can be done by introducing
new or additional loot boxes and/or microtransactions to games that already have an up-
front price tag, or by downgrading a product by stripping features out of it after the initial sale so that they can be reintroduced at a
later date for either a monetary value or a PR
boost some time after the initial backlash has died down.
Sam: "My 17-year-old game now requires an inferior launcher to run and I can'
t play any of my favorite game modes offline, all because the company that made it is trying to force everyone to buy Warcraft 3 Reforged! Even some of the graphics options, like character shadows, aren't available to me any more!"
James: "Activision/Blizzard'
s surprise mechanics at work."
Sam: "I used to really enjoy Trials Rising, but now that loot boxes are a thing, the rest of the game just doesn't seem fun any more. I'm constantly feeling like I need to spend
money just so my character looks half as good as the others and there'
s no guarantee that I'll get the thing I actually want in order to do that."
James: "Looks like Ubisoft'
s surprise mechanics really hurt this game, huh?"
Sam: "Is that your word for loot boxes?"
James: "No. It'
s the staff at Ubisoft that introduced them."
Sam: "I'm so sick of EA and 2K sticking loot boxes into their yearly releases of FIFA and
NBA! The rest of the game isn't even that good any more, like it'
s about as meaningful as the brand on the top of a slot machine at
Las Vegas!"
James: "You're not wrong. There are probably more surprise mechanics working on these games than actual game developers now."