Dead Space 3 sparked controversy when it implemented microtransactions into its resource and crafting system. If you’re looking to craft a weapon, but don’t have the parts, you can spend a small amount of real world money to purchase those parts online.
Of course, gamers quickly found an “exploit” for this system by finding an area in the game where resources infinitely respawn as long as you keep exiting and re-entering the area. This effectively allowed gamers to completely circumvent the resources system and, as a result, everyone thought that EA would issue a patch to fix it.
Not so.
In fact, it turns out that EA designed the game this way. EA rep Jino Talens said in a statement to GameFront “The resource-earning mechanic in Dead Space 3 is not a glitch. We have no plans to issue a patch to change this aspect of the game. We encourage players to explore the game and discover the areas where resources respawn for free. We’ve deliberately designed Dead Space 3 to allow players to harvest resources by playing through the game. For those that wish to accumulate upgrades instantly, we have enabled an optional system for them to buy the resources at a minimal cost ($1-$3).” It is likely that this “glitch” is actually just an aspect of how the game loads new areas, which means there are likely other areas in the game that will offer up infinitely respawning resources as well.
So that’s EA’s official position. “Microtransactions are a convenience and only a convenience.” It’s a good policy to take, and hopefully other companies will follow EA’s example as microtransactions become more common in the future.
Source: GameFront