Gran Turismo 6 is coming to the PlayStation 3 on Friday, bringing with it the first real-money microtransactions in franchise history. It's a game where five bucks can buy you 27 1998 Mini Coopers, or 2.5 percent of a '66 Jaguar XJ13.
European and UK microtransaction pricing for the sixth game in the storied racing franchise appeared on Eurogamer earlier today, the information based on a leaked YouTube video featuring all of the game's cars and their prices. Sony later confirmed U.S. pricing through Gamespot. Here's the breakdown:
- 500,000 credits - $4.99/£3.99/€4.99
- 1,000,000 credits - $9.99/£7.99/€9.99
- 2,500,000 credits - $19.99/£15.99/€19.99
- 7,500,000 credits (7 mil in Europe and UK) - $49.99/£39.99/€49.99
A cursory flip-through of car prices in our preview version of the game showed a vast majority of cars in the sub-500K range — that Mini Cooper 1.3i was only 18,320 credits. The most expensive car we could was the 1966 Jaguar XJ13, priced at $20 million. To purchase it, one would have to buy two $7.5 million packs and two $2.5 million packs — $140.
Or they could just play the game as intended. Sure, it'll take a long time to make that much virtual cash, but the sense of accomplishment can't be bought. Consider it an alternative mode of advancement for foolish, unskilled people.
Or we could all get upset about it. That works too. I tend to agree with Sony Worldwide Studios president Shuhei Yoshida, who responded to frustrated fans on Twitter earlier today with this:
Microtransactions have a bad reputation though, and it might be too late to turn that around. Perhaps one day we'll see special microtransaction-free versions of games for folks who get bent out-of-shape over them. Or maybe we'll get used to ignoring them.
Gran Turismo 6 hits the PlayStation 3 on December 6.