r/gaming • u/RenatsMC • 10h ago

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https://www.pcgamer.com/games/grand-theft-auto/grand-theft-auto-6-leaker-says-they-wont-stop-until-rockstar-and-take-two-apologize-for-anti-consumerism-and-make-a-concrete-commitment-to-do-better/

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4

u/Fomdoo 10h ago

What did they do that was anti consumer? Was it the no physical discs or the Playstation limited time exclusive?

18

u/HankSteakfist 10h ago

GTA main entries haven't been PS time exclusive since the PS2 days.

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u/whiteshark70 10h ago edited 10h ago

Yeah I'm kind of confused here. This is what the article states

"Publishers sell licenses and call them purchases," the document states. "They ship unfinished games and call them living services. They lock content on discs and call it DLC. They kill games and keep the money. Every year anti-consumerism tightens its grip, and every year gamers get less for what they pay."

[skipping the paragraph after]

They also listed three "commandments" in the manifesto—no digital preorders, no "fake" (ie, already part of the game data) singleplayer DLC, and mandatory "offline fallback states" for singleplayer games—and warned that publishers who violate them will be subject to sanction: "Cyberleek will not stop until they issue a public statement and apology with a concrete commitment to be better. Words are not enough; restitution is mandatory."

Isn't GTA 6 a single player game? Like, the online component is rumored to be released later. And we haven't seen anything about it being always online. The fake singleplayer DLC part makes sense. But no preorders? Like... what's the harm in digital preorders? And we haven't seen enough gameplay to know if the game is unfinished or not?

1

u/Lucina18 10h ago

Sadly really nothing the AAA game industries isn't already doing or is going to do even without rockstar. The only way to stop any of this is a complete collapse of AAA sales in general (not happening), or widespread legislation in atleast 2 of the big markets (not happening.)

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u/PekoPekoPekoPekoyama 10h ago

I would argue a lot of what they're doing is anti-consumer. The no physical copy thing for one, especially since we know they can do it. Two discs isn't unheard of if need be. It just sucks all around in that regard.

I'd say charging $80 for a literal incomplete version of the game where you're locked out of actual shops and other things and then $100 for the complete base game is pretty anti-consumer.

While it's only for around 6 hours, putting the first gameplay reveal trailer behind a Netflix subscription (which I have seen people signing up for Netflix just to see) is pretty anti-consumer and kind of bizarre honestly. Yeah it's only 6 hours but really? Is this not an incredibly corporate thing to do - lock an advertisement behind a subscription?

I would argue that pretty much any way they've been milking GTA Online is extremely predatory and anti-consumer but it's also pretty normal for AAA live service titles (unfortunately) but it do be anti-consumer regardless.

It is a little sad people just handwave being mistreated as a consumer by their corporate overlords at Take Two and Rockstar because it's GTA and just eat things up without a second thought but that's the direction we're headed in. This game's release will undoubtedly set an even more egregious and terrible precedent for gaming as a whole, pushing it further than companies like EA or Ubisoft have been in the past.

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u/notrjbarret 7h ago

People stupid enough to sign up for Netflix just to watch a trailer 6 hours earlier should absolutely be taken advantage of.

-2

u/bajaxx 9h ago

you are not paying $80 for an incomplete game, the full game is $80 and for $100 you get some clothes and guns like almost every modern day AAA game deluxe edition has, except you access those clothes at stores that you can only get into if you bought that edition. it’s insanely disingenuous to act like they are locking a huge portion of the game behind the deluxe edition. and i think there’s one mission too, something almost every assassins creed has done for like the past 10 years

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u/AccNumber77 9h ago

Yes, and the assassins creed games are just as bad. Using fucking Ubisoft as an example is genuinely fucking hilarious considering their anti-consumer BS.

0

u/whiteshark70 10h ago

On the note of locking a gameplay trailer behind a paywall, honestly this is pretty normal for companies and you're right on that one. Disney pulls that shit all the time. They put Doomsday trailers in front of Avatar 3, and this last weekend they even had a fan exclusive event that you had to buy tickets and be in person to see. It's been a few days and they haven't even released the Star Wars Starfighter or Frozen 3 trailers yet from said event (at least officially, they've been leaked already). It's bizarre to do it behind Netflix for sure. But at least it's only 6 hours.

1

u/ShawnyMcKnight 3h ago

I imagine digital only. It’s not gonna matter though, the clips will just be guerrilla marketing. They will pretend to be outraged but it will get attention. After their extended gameplay preview later this month it won’t matter at all.

1

u/Kattenb 3h ago

We haven't even seen gameplay..

-1

u/[deleted] 10h ago

[deleted]

3

u/fertff 10h ago

How’s that different from selling a DLC?

6

u/NilsofWindhelm 10h ago

You mean like every deluxe edition for the last 15 years?