It appears 343 Studios and Microsoft have found a successful business strategy for microtransactions in Halo 5: Guardians. While the game only released last week for the Xbox One, it has already eclipsed over $500,000 in revenues through their REQ bundles.
In Halo 5: Guardians players can buy REQ bundles that start at $2 up to $25. They reward that players with items for use in multiplayer. 343 Studios is adamant that it is completely optional and everything can be obtained through regular gameplay as well. They assure that it will not hurt the balance of the game.
“Everything you can get in the REQ system, you can earn whether you spend money or not,” Kevin Franklin told Gamespot. “There’s no crazy special items that are only going to be reserved for people who spend a lot more money. Also, you get a lot of rewards whether you’re playing Arena or Warzone, so you’re always going to have a ton of stuff that you’ll be able to use.”
The exact Revenue Microsoft made through their REQ bundles is expected to actually be much larger, though, as $500,000 is just the amount of money that will be added to the Halo World Championship prize pool thanks to the sale of REQ bundles. The exact percentage split between funds that Microsoft keeps and money that goes to the Halo World Championship is unavailable.
It appears microtransactions are not going anywhere. As long as people can buying and there is a market for them, you should expect to see more of them. This is ok as long as they are not required to succeed in the game; promise 343 Studios has made for Halo 5: Guardians.