Former Blizzard boss reckons you should be able to tip developers 'another $10 or $20' on top of $70 games

rockpapershotgun.com:

The former president of Blizzard has suggested that players should have the option to tip developers after finishing a game. That’s on top of paying $70 for the game in the first place, mind.

Mike Ybarra - who departed Blizzard earlier this year - proposed the idea in a post on X, saying “I've thought about this idea for a while, as a player, since I've been diving into single player games lately”.

Ybarra suggested that games such as Elden Ring, Baldur's Gate 3, Red Dead Redemption 2, God of War and Horizon Zero Dawn had “[left] me in awe of how amazing the experience was”, and wanting to give extra to the devs - both in recognition of both how good the games were, but also their lack of in-game microtransactions or paid DLC.

“At the end of the game, I've often thought ‘I wish I could give these folks another $10 or $20 because it was worth more than my initial $70 and they didn't try to nickel and dime me every second’,” Ybarra wrote. “I know $70 is already a lot, but it's an option at the end of the game I wish I had at times. Some games are that special.”

I've thought about this idea for a while, as a player, since I've been diving into single player games lately.

When I beat a game, there are some that just leave me in awe of how amazing the experience was. At the end of the game, I've often thought "I wish I could give these…

Ybarra’s specification that this would apply to $70 games presumably sets it apart from the likes of Patreon subscriptions, Ko-Fi donations and crowdfunders typically used by smaller indie developers to help them cover costs and give fans a way of supporting them. While it’s hard to argue against individual developers and studio staff deserving more money (as with most people employed below a C-suite level), it’s hard to believe - as many who responded to Ybarra’s post pointed out - that tipping on triple-A games wouldn’t simply end up in the pockets of publishers rather than filtering down to those actually creating the games - and often