From Motivating to Manipulative: The Use of Deceptive Design in a Game's Free-to-Play Transition
summary
Analysis of game mechanics plus a deductive taxonomy and a thematic Reddit analysis finds nine deceptive mechanics introduced during the Overwatch transition to free‑to‑play, with players reporting an approximate 56‑hour battle pass grind, near‑worthless grind currency, price‑skimming, fake discounts, and paywalled characters. The study uses game mechanic mapping and qualitative coding of posts to show these patterns increase spending pressure, frustration, and churn, and argues current taxonomies miss publisher practices so calls for fairer rewards and transparent communication.
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