Now, there’s no denying that Bethesda and Todd Howard have given us some generational RPGs. Seriously, Todd and the boys have crafted games that have literally shaped this genre and changed how players experience open-world games. However, it’s not like they’re free from criticism.
Other than the studio’s recent downward spiral, let’s not forget the fact that this is the very same company that gave us the Horse Armor DLC in the Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and opened the floodgates for the plague of microtransactions in gaming.
Bethesda’s Horse Armor DLC is The Reason Why Microtransactions Plague Gaming
Image Credits: YouTube The Cantina/Microsoft
Image Credits: YouTube The Cantina/Microsoft
Image Credits: YouTube The Cantina/Microsoft
Image Credits: Microsoft
Image Credits: Microsoft
So, if you’re someone who wasn’t around the days of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, let us tell you what exactly happened. Back in 2006, Bethesda dropped a DLC for the game called the Horse Armor Pack.
Now, paying for DLCs back then wasn’t a big deal as they added content into the game. However, what was so special about this DLC was the fact that it was strictly cosmetic and cost you $2.50. It did not even improve upon the horse’s stats or anything like that.
Nowadays, we’re used to paying $20 for skins in games like Fortnite and Call of Duty. However, back then, this wasn’t the norm. Microtransactions in the 00s of the gaming world weren’t really a thing, and no major publisher had really tried to charge players money like that for cosmetic items.
However, little did we know, Bethesda’s Horse Armour DLC experiment, with encouragement from Microsoft, was the beginning of the age of microtransactions in the gaming world. Even though it was hated by gamers at the time, it was actually one of the most popular DLCs for Oblivion.
While talking to VideoGamer, former Bethesda developer Bruce Nesmith revealed that the DLC sold in millions. Heck, even the recently released Oblivion Remastered made you pay for horse armor.
The developer’s formula proved that there will always be players complaining about paying for cosmetic items, but there are also enough people who will open their wallets without a second thought.
Fast forward to today, and now we game publishers charigng $20, $30, and even $60 dollars for in-game cosmetics that can alone buy you some quality games. Todd and the boys really flipped the gaming world upside down with their one simple DLC.
Bethesda’s Can’t Make the Same Mistakes With Elder Scrolls 6
Elder Scrolls 6 can’t afford to be a failure. Image Credits: Microsoft
Now, the Horse Armor DLC wasn’t the end of Bethesda’s microtransactions shenanigans. Just take a look at the Creation Club across the developer’s games or the Atom Shop from Fallout. It’s filled with such horrendous microtransactions, and what’s even worse is that half of these things are available for free through community-made mods. There’s no reason to pay a dime.
We all know that the past few years haven’t been kind to Bethesda. Ever since Fallout 4, the company has been taking a hit left and right. We thought the absolute low point was Fallout 76. However, Howard’s dream project, Starfield, which was supposed to be the developer’s finest work, turned out to be another failure that couldn’t even compete with indie games.
Bethesda is at a point where it needs to start innovating in its games and step up the RPG formula it has always relied on. Seriously, when there are competitors like Kingdom Come Deliverance II, Baldur’s Gate 3, and The Witcher, that “Bethesda magic” won’t do a thing. The developer needs to improve its game design, but if it decides to continue slapping aggressive microtransactions, it will only make things worse.
If Bethesda doesn’t decide to change, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see Elder Scrolls 6 also being a massive failure. Hope among players is already at an all-time low, considering how Starfield went. If Elder Scrolls 6 fails, then we genuinely can’t imagine what’s going to happen with Fallout 5 either.
With that said, what do you think about the Horse Armor DLC? Let us know in the comments below!
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
