Jagex CEO Jon Bellamy, who you might remember as the guy who snubbed the game’s (newer) Pride events to ensure the continued “operation of our games as apolitically as possible”—whatever the hell that means—is also on a bit of an anti-microtransactions crusade.
Speaking with TheGameBusiness at Gamescom, Bellamy reiterated that Jagex is still on that straight (pun not intended) and narrow: “The team have been looking at the way the product currently is, the happiness of players, where they’re finding frustration… If we believe this game has another 25 years, what do we need to change? And monetization is near the top of that list.”
These included “experiments”—temporary removals or adjustments to certain microtransaction systems to make them, well, less bad: “Treasure hunter is our microtransaction layer, and we did the total removal of that temporarily. That hasn’t been done since it was implemented in 2012.”
Kudos where kudos are due, Bellamy seems open to the idea that his company might make less money for a while: “We probably won’t maintain the revenue that we currently are when we make these changes. That’s the truth. But equally, if we’re taking a 10 or 15 or 25-year view, some short-term pain is probably worth the restoration of the game if we can get to that point.”
When talking about why OldSchool RuneScape is just as vibrant as its modern equivalent, Bellamy said it’s all about that integrity, baby. "Old School’s a game that is swimming in integrity, and integrity is really desirable, especially today. With RuneScape 3, what we are looking at is also much about integrity.
“So visual integrity, monetization integrity, and integrity of gameplay. And if we put that right at the core of what we’re doing, much as we have for Old School RuneScape, it will manifest in a different way for RuneScape 3.”
In other words, Bellamy wants RuneScape to be a game with integrity and willing to lower its revenue. Which, considering his comments earlier this month, does strike me as a bit trite—even if I am genuinely happy for RS3 players, and think this attitude towards MTX (in isolation) is good.
It’s a bit weird to hear all this stuff about integrity from the same guy who thinks employees working on new Pride events constitutes a “risk that I’m personally responsible to protect against”. From where I’m sitting, it sure looks like Bellamy’s being yellow-bellied in one area and bullish in another.
Bellamy does have big ambitions for Jagex’s future—later, when discussing Jagex’s survival game Scum, he states: “The French make wine, the Germans make cars and Jagex makes RuneScape, and that’s exactly where I would like us to be for the next five or so years.”
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