When a game with microtransactions, especially a free to play game, introduces a new item or system that takes an exceptionally long time to complete, there’s always one reaction you can count on: people calling it a cash-grab.
People will say that clearly the developer only made it so grindy because then more people will have to pay for it, and thus the game is making more money. But according to Warframe developer Digital Extremes, not only do particularly grind-heavy items not make more money, they sometimes even make less.
Speaking at GDC last week, Digital Extremes Live Ops and Community Producer Rebecca Ford said that more grind doesn’t mean more profits for Warframe. Ford’s panel was about some of Warframe’s biggest ‘hit’ and ‘miss’ moments over its five-year history, one of which she said was a resource called Oxium that angered players for being overly scarce at its release.