Although there are many simulation games that provide virtual facsimiles of real-world work, like House Flipper and PowerWash Simulator, the true job simulators are free-to-play games. Games that offer no-cost entry, but drive monetization through microtransactions, often reward players for logging in every day. While this may seem like an incentive, it could be seen as negative reinforcement towards missing a day, as many games offer superior rewards for uninterrupted attendance streaks. Players of freemium games often refer to “doing their dailies,” a description of the once-per-day rewards many games offer for completing certain repetitive gameplay-related tasks, which is eerily close to punching a time clock.
When any new game is released that has no purchase price, gaming fans rightfully question the real costs involved. The recently released game Tower of Fantasy is free to and play, but its gacha mechanics incentivize spending money. Every day when a player logs into games like Genshin Impact or Marvel Strike Force they see various ads for current promotions, most of which encourage spending real-world money either directly or by implication. By motivating players to daily, these games have more opportunities to their rotating specials to the player base, adding to the likelihood of spending.
Microtransaction Models Raise Ethics Questions & Ruin Fun
There are certainly questions as to the value and ethics of free-to-play games, as Diablo Immortal faced scrutiny when players analyzed the math behind its endgame progression mechanics. Putting aside the merits of the microtransaction model, the method of drawing players back in, day after day, is also dubious. Video games are a form of entertainment. Once a player feels obligated to to a game simply to keep a streak going and claim a daily allotment of benefits, like Genshin Impact’s daily check-in rewards system, the activity shifts from being a fun hobby to something conspicuously like a job.
Many games arguably follow the same model as a career. Nearly every RPG features tangible advancement gained through grinding battles, much like the nine-to-five grind of a rank-and-file employee. Dragon Quest players routinely master the Mage and Priest job classes to access the superior Sage job, which parallels moving from entry level positions to management. Yakuza: Like A Dragon satirically leaned into the comparison, as players went to Japan’s real-life job placement service Hello Work to change classes.
Gaming fans are no strangers to accruing wealth in Grand Theft Auto games to purchase clothes and cars. Despite the ubiquity of game mechanics that mimic a job in some way, free-to-play games manage to feel more like a job than anything else. Papers, Please put the player in the role of an immigration official checking documents, and House Flipper fans struggle to satisfy unreasonable clients, but both of these games are completely voluntary. If a player does not feel like rejecting ports or vacuuming up roaches on any given day, they can simply play something else.
Players Become Pressured To to Free Games
The distinction that sets free-to-play games apart is that players are incentivized to play the game even when they do not feel like doing so. Skipping a day of House Flipper will not cause the player to lose out on a bid for an ideal property, where failing to to a gacha game could cost a player an attendance streak that leads to scaling rewards. In this way free-to-play games do not just simulate jobs, but jobs that the player might not particularly care for. Whatever ion they had on day one may have diminished, but they continue to clock in daily because they cannot afford to do otherwise.
Video games continue to experiment with profit models. Some rumors suggest PlayStation will put ments in free games. While this could be distracting for some, and rob players of immersion, it might be preferable if those games move away from enticing players into logging in daily just to see in-game ad banners. Services like Game and PlayStation Plus Extra could be seen as encouraging daily play, simply so subscribers feel they are getting their money’s worth, but that is a far cry from the direct attendance tracking approach of free-to-play titles.
An employee going to work most days of the week is the expectation for most jobs, but microtransaction-driven games operate on another level. Players do not get weekends or holidays off from their streaks, and there are no vacation days or sick days that can substitute for doing their dailies. A few non-freemium games leverage similar tactics to promote daily game play, such as the Animal Crossing titles. The New Horizons paid DLC, Happy Home Paradise, gave players less guilt trips for missing a few days, unlike the core game, where villagers would make it clear how heartbroken they are over the player’s absences.
When Games Become An Obligation, They Are Jobs
Like movies and television, video games are an escapist form of entertainment. Hobbies like games provide a needed change of pace from actual jobs and other life stresses and concerns. When a game feels like a second job, many players rightfully question whether it is really serving its intended purpose. Games like Disco Elysium entertain while enriching the player with insights into politics and human nature. Most free-to-play titles instead lean into a fear of missing out, putting players into the role of someone who must go to work regardless of enjoyment, simply because they cannot afford to lose all they have built.
Many players claim to enjoy free games without being enticed into spending, but the real costs are their time and stress levels. Multiversus could signal more free-to-play fighting games ahead, and games ranging from shooters to RPGs to puzzle games have already found success with microtransaction models. Those who routinely to multiple free-to-play games effectively have a second, third, or fourth job, as they often collect their attendance benefits and do their daily tasks simply to keep up, rather than out of genuine interest in those rote actions.
Based on their success, free-to-play games are here to stay. For players who notice their daily s feel more habitual than enjoyable, it might be worth examining whether a game that dictates their personal schedule is worth playing consistently. When any microtransaction-driven game starts feeling like a job, players can always quit without giving notice. Exploring an overt job simulator like House Flipper or Papers, Please might provide a refreshing change of pace, since players can go for weeks without booting those titles up without fear of missing out.
