Bethesda Founder: Loot Boxes May Backfire, But Players May Pay More For AAA Games

Bethesda founder Christopher Weaver, who was part of the team before even The Elder Scrolls: Arena launched in 1994, has weighed in on the loot box controversy currently taking over the internet.

Weaver actually later founded ZeniMax Media, the new parent company of Bethesda Softworks. He stopped being an employee of ZeniMax in 2002 when he went to court against Bethesda, where the two parties settled the dispute outside of court. Needless to say, he’s familiar with how money and business works.

Speaking with Glixel, Weaver shared his opinion on the recent loot box controversy surrounding games like Star Wars Battlefront II.

“This nickel and dime approach to payment may well backfire as it interferes with the flow of a game and disallows for players to lose themselves in its play-world. Players may have to absorb the increasing costs of creating AAA games to allow publishers to remain profitable.”

An unfortunate realization is that the industry has certain profit quotas they feel they need to meet, and they can’t reach them as the price of developing AAA games rises. With the outrage over loot box gambling, it’s likely many future titles will shy away from such practices, but that leaves fewer options for profit other than raising the price of their products.

This leaves gamers in a tight spot, as the economy is inarguably in rough shape as it is. $70+ on a single game might be too rich for many gamers’ blood. But are there other options to try before a price hike?