SCIENCE & TECH: ‘Always put burden on customers’

It’s virtually impossible to get behind this.

A former top video game executive suggests that players, who are already giving an arm and a leg for expensive top titles, take excessive tipping to the virtual world next — by paying a gratuity of up to 30% extra.

Mike Ybarra, the former president of the major gaming company Blizzard Entertainment, floated the concept “most will dislike” last week on X. He said it is to support already well-paid game developers, despite their product’s costs being “already a lot” for players.

“When I beat a game, there are some that just leave me in awe of how amazing the experience was,” he posted, rattling off some titles he felt worthy of a tip, like “Red Dead Redemption 2.”

“At the end of the game, I’ve often thought, ‘I wish I could give these folks another $10 or $20 because it was worth more than my initial $70, and they didn’t try to nickel and dime me every second.’ “

For context, a 20% tip on a $70 meal is $14.

Meanwhile, the average game development salary is $108,471, according to ZipRecruiter.

Potentially admirable sentiment aside, the message is perhaps tone-deaf as customers continuously pay add-on fees to get the full experience of their games. Long gone are the days of simply running to GameStop, buying a disk and playing to completion.

Games now sell the bells and whistles separately by pushing players to purchase recurring elements, special features, deeper access and cosmetic additions not included in the base price.

In 2022, “Fortnite” creator Epic Games settled a $520 million lawsuit for designing the teen-loved game in a way that tricked kids into making extra purchases.

Players even dole out triple figures for special cross-platform versions of games where Xbox and PlayStation users can meet up online.

For instance, the price of the standard “NHL 24” is currently $24.99, whereas its crossplay counterpart is a whopping $99.99.

Ybarra didn’t suggest how tipping would even work and, as he predicted, many gamers want to unplug from his whole concept.

“Let’s do charity to big companies to support ‘developers.’ Let’s always put the burden on the customers. What a fantastic idea,” one user replied with a Bronx cheer.

“I often play a game and am disappointed. Can I get my money back?” wrote another.

“Let’s not start this trend,” a third chimed in.

Rob Thurbon of Techspot also posed a relevant question: “Will all the money go to the right people, and might companies use tips to lower wages?”

Another X user had a simple solution for what game giants should do.

“You could share more of the profit with the devs instead of asking more from the consumer.”