How Common are Microtransactions?

Microtransactions are most likely to be found in mobile games and games that are free to play such as Overwatch 2, Fortnite, Genshin Impact, and The Sims 4 to name a few. All of these games are free to download and jump into from the start, however, as you play the game, you’ll quickly find they have significant content that requires payment. One example of this is a battle pass system, for which you spend a certain amount of money each month or season to unlock a set amount of content like character skins or weapon wraps through playing and leveling up the pass, similar to Overwatch 2 and Fortnite. Alternatively, as in the case of The Sims 4, you get access to the base game but content like owning pets, getting to start a farm, having your Sims go to university, or even experiencing the seasons like fall and winter is all additional content that must be bought separately, which can quickly add up. Microtransactions can range from items like convenient time skips that speed up or finish production on items in games such as Cookie Run Kingdom to items that boost gameplay to make it easier in games such as Candy Crush.