A few updates after having seen the response to this video: 1. From the feedback I've gotten, Pokemon Unite is one of the less malicious Free-to-Play games in this genre. I still stand by the fact that it employs manipulative strategies to earn more from players, but in hindsight there were a few things I could have done to save me spending quite as much as I did. That said, I don't want this to take away from the key message of the video, which still stands and is still incredibly important. 2. Most of the shots in the video and screen recordings were sourced by my editor on my editors account, and so are more to demonstrate the points being made, as opposed to being representative of my own gameplay. 3. I've been informed that it is currently possible to upgrade an item to level 30 without paying real money in Pokemon Unite - this hasn't always been the case and isn't made clear to the player - it seems to be a limited time thing - but nonetheless an oversight on my part! 4. I am completely happy to admit that I am far from the best Pokemon Unite player. That said, while it is true that people with more skill can certainly get away with paying less, for the vast majority of the player base, paying is still the key legitimate way to make progress.
You would NEVER expect a channel this big to go this HARD and effectively side with the consumer on such a personal level. You are very genuine. Thank you for what you do!
@@abhishh_ek He started out by dissing some of the biggest names in terms of sponsors and anti consumerist practices. I didn't need the whole story to know where this was going, although I was going to watch the whole thing. Not very hard to comprehend, you know.
To be fair to the game you don't need those holowears (the fancy costumes for your Pokemon) to play the game. They don't boost any of your stats or affect gameplay in any way. Also once you obtain those level 20+ items you are pretty set because the game is actually quite skill based. I have been playing the game for about a year now and so far I spent only 9 dollars for the holowears in the battle pass (never once spent them buying the item enhancers), and I have gotten the "Master" rank (the highest rank tier in the game) for 4 out of 6 seasons now. Granted I am not saying the system is in any way a good system, but it's not as bad as it seems.
Whoa as a kid I honestly thought those energy bar things that run out when you play, is to make sure no kid can spend too much time on the game and go outside to socialize 💀
Dude same. I remember wanting to tell my mom that i wont be wasting my time because there's an energy bar system in this game (i forgot the name but it was a racing game)
I already knew this, but when I was a child I was playing a game on my fathers mobile, I saw all the offers in the shop and all the great rewards, and i realized that my dad probably has money on his phone, so I bought 2 of the offers. When my dad came back home, he wasn't mad, instead he taught me about what this video is teaching. I've never spent money on any in-game purchases since.
Your dad is a legend Most wouldn't know why there kids do that and think it's them been dumb While in reality the dev try to use every single trick in the book to make them buy
Bro Don't listen to him He's a noob I literally play the game about 2 yrs ago and still didn't pay a single dollar on it Also the held items just needs to be lvl 20 not 30 to be good
As a Pokemon Unite player I agree that the monetization is some of the worst things about the game, but the game is not pay to win, it's pray to win. As in pray that the trolls, afk and clueless players are on the enemy team instead of your team XD
Yeah that's true, you play a game for a few minutes then you get bombarded by ads that you can exit, sometimes you need to watch ads to unlock some hidden features
I've seen games that are legitimately so ad-ridden that it's faster to close out of the program and restart it than it is to skip through them. I've also seen games where the performance goes up by a noticeable amount after turning on airplane mode so the ads can't load, though many games will have countermeasures if you choose to block ads that way
@@QwerbeyI recently went on an old online games website I used to play when I was younger and one of the new games was those typical waiter games, and to get upgrades quicker or even gets the tips from the bigger spenders, you had to watch ads. It did not take me long to realise the game itself is not that fun or challenging, all it really is is a means to get kids to watch ads. It was sad to see how soulless some of the games had gotten, what developers are doing now knowing what they can get away with
It's not just mobile games - so many apps have embraced this business model. From dating apps to language learning apps - it's the same techniques over and over again. They don't set out to deliver what the app promises - be that teaching you Japanese to finding a partner - they just want you to pay.
renshuu is a free Japanese learning app I've found to be pretty helpful 🤷 I could go on about how cool it is but it's probably better if you check it out yourself
This is why I’ve gone back to play ‘retro’ games and avoid online gaming as much as I can. If I want to play games on my phone, I use emulators and just play classic games I loved growing up.
I do retro gaming on my computer, but on my phone I actually go with one time purchase games. They can be more expensive upfront, but once I buy it I own it without restrictions
I KNOW RIGHT!!! Was literally thinking that's gotta annoying all the youtubers that are sponsored by them.. So good of Arun to expose these shady tactics. Had a fair idea about it but this explained it all so well. Reminded me of the one time I ever went through a phase.. thought it was a bit different but clearly followed these tactics.
also, can see why they have the money to sponsor every youtuber.. assume it's well worth the add money to have popular creators push your addictive ...products
@@turkeysgotmorecloutthanyou Hacksmith has that many subs and advertises Raid so....... whilst you're right, Arun does have 12 Million subs and does not 'need' too.. that same argument could be made about others, who still do it..
There’s a mobile game I play, where there always seems to be some kind of special offer. There’s a banner that says *16 HOURS LEFT!* , the next day it says something like *18 HOURS LEFT!*
I played Unite on my Switch when it was first released. I never spend any real money, I ground out everything and leveled up everything. There is an amount of strategy involved in knowing each Pokémon's skills and abilities. Like I said, I never spent a single cent on the game, and I would still destroy people who clearly spent money on Pokémon and extra tidbits. This was of course when the game came out, so I don't know how much it has changed since then.
They added a lot more inclusivity, with multiple new player bonuses and more free things at the start (such as the power to make three of your items fully levelled instantly). If you take advantage of those and still lose, you realise that maybe you’re not playing the game right and its about how you play. The game is actively putting you in a position where you dont feel like you are monetarily behind and that its not about that at all, its actually how good you are as a player.
I've played Pokemon Unite for a long time and used to win most of my matches. Never felt the need for buying anything, even when my items weren't fulled out, it wasn't that hard to win.
You have probably played moba before, that's why. The dude was probably a complete noob. After the tutorials had to face real opponents and got steamrolled because of the lack of experience. He thought the problem were the items and not the fact he was trying to 1vs2 against players with higher level.
I come from a generation where no one has even heard of microtransactions. We were shocked by the $2.50 horse armor in Oblivion. And for today's young generation, microtransactions are normal. It's really terrifying.
I’ve been playing Pokémon Unite since it came out last year, I’ve spent the entire time as a free to play player. It’s just a matter of knowing what you need to do to not have the urge to spend any money. (for me it’s not having any lol)
@@IthquaisChibi true he just played it for like a 2 weeks ago and say some wrong information about the game, he clearly dont know the mechanics of the game.
Some people just think they win few games and they are the best of the world that can win against the experienced players. He didn’t really make research before being such a whiny baby.
This is the sole reason, I love skill-based games. BGMI, CODM and other battle royales where you just can't be good by spending money. Spending in these kinds of games will only get you as far as good skins. Battle royales need your time in the game for you to actually be good. You can't just buy your way to 'Ace' or other high ranks. The currency of battle royales is time.
no way bro, codm has weapon skins that do more damage than normal skins among other things, whether you like it or not, all of these give you advantages if you pay
@fauzan9752 all mythic gun skins in codm either have better iron sights or straight up built in red dot sights, not to mention these mythics cost up to 150$-200$
we originally thought the amount you'd need to spend to "max out a character" in diablo immortal was $130,000 - BUT if you actually max out one of the legendary gems, it opens up five extra (previously invisible) slots - meaning it costs at least 6x as much as we thought.
The unecessary updates on the apps on your phone, even the software updates trains your mindset that you will always need to upgrade and change phones and it always has to be the latest
I just want to say that I have got into Master Rank in Pokémon Unite without spending a single dollar ever, not even on skins. I don't think that it's pay to win as it's showed in this video, they usually gift A LOT of Licenses and items to enchance Items to lvl 30 for free. Lately they have been letting you get new Pokémon without paying but by making daily missions. Also, the weekly coin limit is really high, specially compared with other free mobile games, so you can get a lot of skins and items just by playing. I do hate that they try to push you that much into buying stuff, though, but that's just 21th century consumism.
I’m with u. I’m an 1800 master player and have all my items all over lvl 20 and almost all licenses w/o spending money. This game is very generous and I know that cuz I used to play mobile legends (another f2p mobile moba) and I had less than half the charters and couldn’t keep up with new charter releases.
Yeah good video and can really relate, even if a game is getting slow the grinding is going, you don’t want to lose all the time and effort you put into it, so then you have to pay or you have to put even more time and effort, and if you aren’t on the paying side, you will ALWAYS be playing catch up, or they would have to keep really weak for a very long time to be strong one update like saving gems, the best option is to honestly just quit but it’s a really hard decision to make, they give free to play players like max rarity units who use to be good but a new max rarity character would be way way way better and maybe even non max rarity characters so you feel you got something good but in reality it’s nowhere close to the new stuff, I just quit all games like this and that’s why I was so sad overwatch closes yesterday, I legitimately don’t want to play overwatch 2 (I got overwatch preordered) and overwatch 2 locks so much behind levels and battle passes, all my friends want to try it but I can’t go from overwatch one which close to the 2nd game today because of that, I’m probably going to log in see it then just close the game for a really long time.
@@rimimimimimimimim4170 No. Very bad video. Yes many game use those tactics. Pokemon Unite was a poor choice and showed how content he is with putting out a video while being blissfully ignorant on the subject or just flat out clickbait.
I think unite is one of the worst examples for showing this problem. If one informs themself sufficiently, you can quickly find out that spending money does almost nothing for your wins lol. And you can get everything non-cosmetic by just playing the game. There are 1000s of games that are way better examples that rly are p2w to their core..
@@raceris7309 Not to mention Pokémon is one of the biggest IPs in the entire world, which makes him bringing it up as a main example feel like it makes a lot more sense for more casual people that don't know what's going on with some of their games at hand in the first place.
Yes I feel he blatantly criticised the wrong game. Now the current players know how it is. But the ones who might download in the future are stopped from doing so, given his fame in this platform
@@raceris7309 I get what u mean but there's only one paid currency. The rest you can easily get through playing. And nothing in the game other than skins and other cosmetics is gated behind a paywall, meaning that your stats can be maxed without paying. This fact alone makes it better than 99% of every other mobile game. Also unite is primarily a nintendo switch game, thus also not fitting into the trope of 'mobile' game as much as many others. Its just a bad example for the point he is trying to make.
Sounds like you're on a mission! Exposing the tactics and practices of some mobile games can be quite enlightening. Many people might not be aware of the ways these games can manipulate users into spending money or watching ads.
I'm honestly the ULTIMATE anti-consumer for these games lmao. I've played a few of these types of games, never paid and always end up putting the game down when i run out of stamina or game coins and it needs to recharge. To the point that I sometimes even forget to open the game to the reward bonus. I am completely unable to form a habit with these games at all, because it feels more like a hassle to just get the game open and thus I become somewhat resistant and end up dropping the game out of boredom or play real games on my switch or pc.
The ultimate anti consumer would be someone who doesn't play the game at all. As stated in the video, even if you don't spend, you are still providing the whales another player they can safely know beneath them, adding to their rush and making them play and spend more (as long as their is even the tiniest amount of competitiveness in the game, which most games have. Even just a simple leaderboard suffices. Being first out of ten thousand feels way better than being first out of ten, even if 9990 of the other players don't really play the game at all. The number is still there). So while your contribution is admittedly very small and your resistance to these manipulations is admirable, you are unfortunately still contributing to the system, no matter how insignificant it may seem. Just play non competitive games like nonogram or sudoku on your mobile and play the real games on your pc, it is better for your eyesight anyways. ;) (I mean, you already said you are basically doing that, I would just encourage you to not even try these competitive mobile games like you said you do. They are literally nothing but a waste of time anyway, they offer you nothing worthwhile in return.)
There's a game called homescapes, this guy's give insane bonuses and by the time you realize it you are spending 7 hours a day and you are doing nothing but playing it
I am also that person who is always free to play never spending any money on the game For me brawl stars is the game which actually cares about their f2p players and give tham every other brawl pass to enjoy And win depends on the skill not money
True. They make you do chores after chores. Sure kids would love to play these kind of game for the first time. But maan it dies fast. In the end they going to go for forum and community which filled with Narcisist. Its funny how this generation kind of shaped, while classic one were shaped by community. Today it shaped by company. Wiseman once said. 'The more perfect you feel, the more greedy you are.'
Great video! But, as a Pokemon United player who reached Master Rank without spending any money at all, I have to say that in PU game knowledge and skills are far more important than the money you spend. Look at Spreagels reaction to this, he points out what is actually correct about Pokemon Unite's costs.
Everything he said still stands, but I also think if you spend a lot money on in game purchases your an idiot ,as for example I've spent nothing and I've even played clash of clans since 2013 and many other similar games to this)
@@elismart13 He used a bad example and played like a complete idiot. His opening had me thinking: "If Pokemon Unite was actually P2W, would he spend 100$ to easily beat every match and make a video about PU being P2W?". He was going to shame Pokemon Unite as a game regardless of whether it was good or not. He got so much wrong in this video, if he had reached out to a PU streamer or looked at the community he would've gotten more clarity on the tricks PU uses to keep people playing AND judge how P2W this game is. "I poured so much time and love into my account" UniteAPI: This user played 28 matches (= 280 minutes = 4 hours 40 minutes) with a fairly decent win rate. He nitpicked, he strawmanned, he lied to you. If he wanted to make a good video he would've chosen a better game to review.
He is never ever getting sponsored by a mobile game in his life and he probably knew that yet still made this video my respect for him is through the roof.
@@paarshadtrivedi7569 nah bro it will take years to max the base in coc or get all the cards maxed in clash of royal they are the most greedy mobile game co.
I’m 34 now. I learned all this when I was in my early twenties from playing clash of clans. I also have a PR and advertisement degree where we learned how to create desires within people and the art of spin
Pretty much. Seems like Arun made this for the new generation, rather than those of us who were around for the birth of smartphones' mobile gaming micro transactions. I always hated clash of clans when all my buddies would play it in high school.. I was like, " wow, I get the wait 7 hours in real time to do anything after 3 moves? How fun is this!😑"
I'm glad people are pointing out the Pokemon Unite part. If this was actually one year ago, then you could see the argument like MoistCritikal's video, but Pokemon Unite has actually improved since then. Now they have free lvl 30 item enchancers you can get by just playing the game so your not behind on item levels. The only "predatory" thing in the game is arguably the skin and gacha mechanic with emblems. Skins are just skins and they dont affect stats. Emblems you can't just outright buy them. You have to earn them by consistently playing the game and doing good in those games. TLDR Pokemon Unite was not a good example for being Pay to win.
Moistcriticals video was also bullshit even back then. The major advantage from items comes at level 20 which you were able to get easily without paying even on the games release. The stat increases you get from lvl 20 to 30 are negligible and a complete non factor to having more success.
this man just pick randomly while keeping hes eye shut and have the mindset of this game will milk me AND make a very bias research u can tell from all hes "proves" are just general game marketing and not really about the game not to mention he dint even mention the recent real predatory marketing strategy that unite made up being new released pokemon now is actually behind real money paywall when it released
This is one of the reasons I mostly stopped playing video games anymore. Instead, of making a fun enjoyable game, video games are now used as money making machines. Kids are specially vulnerable to this. This video needs to spread further to bring awareness, so eventually a law might be passed to prevent video game develops from exploiting an addiction.
mostly mobile games and those games made by money hungry studios, if I may recommend some games for you, Webbed, Cuphead, Don’t Starve Together, Untitled Goose Game and of course Minecraft are all very much personal favourites of mine. The only one that may offer purchases is DST, but they are all for skins and characters, which do not break the pure difficulty and survival aspect of the game. Webbed is a personal favourite of mine, second only to Minecraft. Love the mechanics and web physics it comes with. Aanyways this message is way too long so goodbye
Many full price games also do this, like call of duty with its crazy slow grind for maxing out a gun or any Ubisoft game that lets you pay to skip the grind, but there are a lot of really good games from indie studios that are made as passion projects.
I work as an artist in one of the mobile gaming giants and all the strategies to pull out cash from players are really dirty sometimes! A lot to left for you to dig...
When I tried Pokémon Unite, I thought it was all bots because I never lost a match. However I also spent no money, maybe spending money triggers something now they know you're willing? Or maybe just poor matchmaking, I have no idea.
The saddest Part why most people doesn’t oppress this is that it has become such a common thing nowadays, creating a feel that this is just what a game should be… kudos to Arun for standing against it
Even worse, some people actually still like it and defend such practice because they think " I have fun with this game for free, why should I care about addicted people being exploited"
@@S41t4r4 fax. Most common thing people say to defend these predatory practices is that " it's a free game and you don't HAVE to spend money so it's no problem"
@@apexheat6553 Another take I see often is " But game XY has no p2w just visual stuff" to defend games like COD mobile, Overwatch et cetera. Basically, ignoring most of the argument against psychological manipulation.
@@S41t4r4 yup. Codm is the main game I play and I'm sure you know about the custom Red dot for ironsights on the mythic and some legendary guns. This may not be directly pay2win but its very close as you are paying for a tangible advantage compared to if you didn't. The subtlety of theses purchases is what allows it to get so far without receiving backlash
You made a good point, but am not so sure about Pokémon unite. I am f2p and maxed out all the items to 20. Aeos gems only buy skins. You simply lost due to skill cap. It is not about mashing buttons. There are championships and it’s very competitive. Other than that keep up the good work!
Being f2p and p2w are peoples choice for their place style as a f2p I have some pretty good stuff and win quite a lot, but being p2w is also ok, that’s their play style. I can wait though, it’s just people who just want to be powerful at the start buts it’s more about strategy, when I get teamed and destroyed I move to the bottom lane and since everyone is at top, I can freely stack aeos cookie and score a lot.
But he is not wrong about the making you make the first purchase first thing. I really liked the mew theme previous month, so I got it, now that I know how easy it is to pay by 2-3 taps, I most likely would have paid more if not for this video.
Me and my Brother play the game free fire, we have been playing it for 6 years now. And I know a few people who have spent so much money on that one game that their families started to wonder about their financial situation. Me and my brother in total spent around 16 dollars on that game in 6 years and we two are brilliant players and have won multiple tournaments. You don't need to spend $1000 to become good at a game, I became exceptional with $16 so you can to!
The ONLY thing in unite you can spend money on in unite for an actual advantage is buying new Pokémon. (Which can be acquired for free later with work) . I agree with the premise of the video, but Unite is absolutely the worst example you could have picked. Their gotcha mechanic is pretty much just cosmetics & the battle pass (which is a decent deal compared to many other f2p games). I’ve spent maybe 15 dollars at most on the game after playing it for nearly a year on purely cosmetic things. In many other games by the end of the week you can feel pressured to spend 100 dollars at the end of one week to advance. Unite has many problems, but pay to win isn’t one of them.
The game isn't even playable for all this time... It was like a alpha version without much to do and had issues because the players got bored immediately so it was extremely difficult to find players available to play against for a while.
Ready Player One addresses some of that, but yes. It is a fearful thing when people do not want to educate themselves about tech. They are too distracted by the experience.
yeah, honestly he's being sarcastic here. also the footages of him playing unite were all feeds (him vs a ninetails >2-3 levels higher or him vs 2-3 opponent pokemons)
How is he being sarcastic? He simply disproved his entire video with this one statement. Yes, the examples shown in the video are feeds, but that doesn’t imply sarcasm to the viewer. More so he’s trying to misinform others about Unite by showing only bad plays that he made.
@@LocalHobo631 arun is intentionally trolling or feeding in unite. He lose on purpose just to get his point however there many players reach masters 1600 points without any items nor emblems. Its call "skill gap"
I have NEVER paid a free game money for a pass or useless item. I would rather cheat, hack or crack the game. A one time purchase game like Factorio, Rimworl, Terraria, Minecraft etc. i wont but free games that are literaky offline but charge money are worth cheating at.
@@RazerClaw7 the difference between him being poor and you spending money on mobile games is at least he isn't stupid enough to lose thousands.. or more! I'd say the poor have out classed most suckers for mobile games.
I think the points made are real and important, but the Unite example isn't the best one. Unite is very F2P friendly, handing out a lot of things for new playes to start at a similar item level to other players. Another game you could have covered that would have made more sense imo is Genshin Impact. A lot of the points made can easily be translated to Genshin, and a lot more people spend a lot more money in it. Overall, great video topic, it's important that people know that most free games are designed to make you spend. Edit : to rephrase a little more, the point of this comment was to say that Genshin Impact is a better and more pertinent example as to how a game makes you spend since it has made an insane amount of money for a free game.
I don’t know about that, money on Genshin can only buy you characters, and a well built 4* can easily be better than a poorly built 5*. I’ve been f2p since I started two years ago, and my account is way better than a lot of paying accounts.
@@maelysearl-sur4777 It's true that you can play Genshin Impact as a f2p, but my point is that Genshin Impact is a much better topic when talking about a free game designed to make as much money as possible
@@finiraelkhami8251 They spent 100 million to make the game, and spend 200 million a year on maintaining it. How much do you think this pokemon game cost to make and maintain?
@@finiraelkhami8251 I don’t think it is desinged to make people spend money, there’s no pop-ups, limited time deals and stuff like that. Some of the better characters and equipment is free (Bennett > Qiqi, the catch > Vortex Vainquisher, thrilling tales > everlasting moonglow) and I’ve not ever been pushed to pay, at least not by the game.
Unite is not pay to win. It is monetized. The issue is matchmaking and how little people are punished for trolling/AFKing. I’ve had similar matches where we turned around being down into wins but then same situation have players rage quit and AFK. There’s also issues with game not telling you effective strategies to winning and solo que is much worse than running with friends where you can chat on a discord call and coordinate better.
That's not the biggest issue. Not that many people troll. The main issue is that you get paired up with people who are clearly total noobs and have no idea how to play the game, even when you're already high level master. That's the part I hate And the thing I hate the most is the fact that you get instantly muted for hours and then days at a time just because someone reported you. You might not have said anything bad at all. It's just because THEY decided to report you, that you instantly get punished with no verification at all. The game just believes them. That's really bad
So the items that you can buy don't give any buffs in the match? because that would then be pay to win. Skins and cosmetics that don't effect game play is monetisation i.e. league of legends
There are definitely mobile games out there that are p2w, but Pokémon Unite isn't one of them. Certainly you can spend money to get new Pokémon, but you can also farm the coins to aquire them as a f2p. Most people spend money on the cosmetics which has no bearing on the stats of the Pokémon. Buying new Pokémon or those cosmetics also have no impact on the gameplay. That is entirely skill-based and tries strongly on your team (if were all working together, etc). I'm F2P and if I do spend money, it's just gonna be for the Unite Membership, some cosmetics and/or some Pokémon... and that's if I choose to. Even if I don't choose to, I don't feel like I'm behind other players (unlike other mobile games) and it's nice.
He's not saying Pokémon unite is P2W but P2P, pay to progress, again his take on the game is from the perspective of a newbie player, hence exactly the perfect target for the developer and their monetisation system, experienced F2P obviously won't fall for it and ofc the game isn't blatantly unfair, it still matches you with bots occasionally, but getting into the competitive leagues is very very difficult for F2P, as someone with almost 10 years of experience with gacha, nothing he said in the video is wrong about the monetisation nor the tactics used
@@Hhhh22222-w I'm Veteran rank working my way to Ultra, and I didn't spend any money to get there. It's not p2w or 'pay to progress'. It's a switch/mobile game that has p2w aspects, sure, but a new player or f2p player can get to the same spot as an experienced player without opening their wallet. It just requires skill (I.e. knowing your Pokémon and what it can and can't do) and decent teammates. And yes, it will be a bit slow in upgrading your held items if you're full f2p (as it is for me), but again... I'm at Veteran rank working my way to Ultra. So I'm progressing fine.
@@Hhhh22222-w that’s the thing. Unite was a bad example because it is not P2W or P2P at all. It is a MOBA. It is all about skill, you get three lvl 30 items for free, and if you choose the correct ones, that can be the best three for almost half the roster. You have to play to progress, not pay. As evidenced by his own experience... he payed a ton, equipped the wrong items for his chosen character, is honestly just bad at the game and got trounced by better players who likely didn’t spend a dime. I could start a fresh account right now and get to masters within a week spending nothing on the game.
@@Hhhh22222-w your 10 years of gacha should show you how wrong his take it but either you're lying about your experience or you've learned absolutely nothing from it. The only ones who pay to progress are ones who will never be good enough and are desperate for success.
I have never spent a single cent in Pokemon Unite and still manage to win, even carry games. Unite does want you to buy stuff, yes, but they also give you a bunch of stuff for free. Held items in general don't even do that much though. The best way to stop losing games is not paying money, but it is to learn the mechanics of the games and how to just get good. I feel like people saying Unite is a P2W game is honestly just a skill issue lmao
Hey, I don't play this game so I will totally take your word for that it is skill based. I just wanna point out that: "... they also give you a bunch of stuff for free." really sounds like drugdealers who are giving a free sample. Except for that the drug dealers actually give you something that has any real word value. This does not cost the game company anything! Enjoy the rest of your day:)
You completely ignore all the times he's mentioned that the game mentions that he needs to pay level up, etc, it's not about gameplay mechanics, it's about game monetisation, your lack of understanding comprehension is a skill issue. He didn't say the game was P2W, but that it scams new players into believing they need to pay to progress and therefore win, if he paid and suddenly won a lot then that would mean Pokémon unite is P2W, he mentions Diablo immortal as being P2W, again your English is a skill issue.
@@Hhhh22222-w Did you even watch the video? Quoting @ Mrwhosetheboss "this game is less about skill on the battlefield.. its more about how strong you make your pokemon before you step foot on the battlefield" @gekuul Only mentioned the part of the video of pokemon Unite where its misunderstanding of winning the game by paying for better items with a huge advantage. But its only the lack of skill by the player and understanding how a MOBA game works. Therefore it may be concluded that the tutorial lacks some deep understanding of a MOBA game And yes manipulating players into buying shady lootboxes and multiple currencies is indeed a shady business
@@Hhhh22222-w MrWhoseTheBoss kept losing cus of skill issue, not due to him not having items, idk what to tell you outside of that. Lv 30 items are so insignificant that its not even worth upgrading them unless you have every item to lv 20 already.
@@Hhhh22222-w bruh but many of the times in the earlier levels no one even has them leveled up cause all the other players are new as well and they dont have their stuff leveled either and you can just win by being good at the pokemon you picked it's not even possible to lose in the beginning first 2 3 weeks at all, legit an actual skill issue.
ok this is genuinely just a skill issue king, you dont need to spend a penny to do well, just know how to play properly edit: it's really easy to figure out through watching good players play and trying to emulate their plays in your own matches
yea that's kind of what I thought tbh. I've played Pokémon unite before and I never spent a dime yet could still get some good kills and won most games. as much as it pains me to say, its just a skill issue.
@@ArcticWolfOfficial True but at the end of the day you’re the one in charge of your own money so if you REALLY don’t want to spend any on the game, you just won’t
@@ArcticWolfOfficial furthermore, unite is a free, relatively well designed game with no ads, if they didn't have in-game purchases then they would go bankrupt
@@ArcticWolfOfficial if he wanted to make a mobile.monetization video, I think unite is not the best example. It employs the tactics but is nowhere near as egregious as the likes of Diablo
This is why I mostly play single player games nowadays and avoid anything free to play. I usually have enough self-restraint to avoid buying microtransactions, but they are so annoying that I'd rather buy a full-priced game than have to deal with F2P microtransactions and the systems that come with it. I also hate when games try to get you to play daily whether it's through timers/energy or daily rewards/missions. The "habit" part was what burned me out on MMOs since it ended up feeling more like work than fun to log into the game every day and play the bare minimum just to not fall behind on progression.
He makes good points but used an absolutely terrible example. Pokemon Unite isn't as Pay to Win as he makes it appear to be. You could literally reach Masters without paying a single penny. If you want new Pokees on release date (which is grindable after the first week) or new skins then yeah spend some money! Devs have to make a living.
@@dumzacs7628 They shouldn't make money by praying on neuro-untypical people. I'm clad you haven't spent a dime, but millions of people whose financial situations don't allow it have.
I’ve worked 6 yrs in the online gambling industry. All the concepts discussed were disco and first used in online gambling. Sign up bonuses to break the barrier is essential to the acquisition strategy. Push towards slots with high volatility (small wins but much more often) gets you hooked on the reward stimulation and perception that the big win (like levelling up quick but the level you want to be is so far and impossible) that only whales really get. The concept of in-game currency comes from buying tickets for tournaments in the casino. This was developed in the 90s. I think I made my point in how the mobile gaming system is literally and purposefully designed based on the online gambling industry. The difference I think is most important is that online gambling has regulations in place. There are companies that monitor and reign in industry. Even worse, the mobile gaming industry is aimed at children and is much more sinister in fostering addiction than online gambling could ever be.
@@fabiaaquino2207 "I know he made a good point and the game clearly shows some signs of the system you mentioned but other mobile game are worse" that isnt an argument. He could have used effectivly every multiplayer mobile game from clash royale to rise of kingdoms. All of them employ predatory marketing techniques to bleed people dry
I agree, cause I am tired with all mobile online games especially Honkai Impact. I understand that people want and like to play those games, bur they must realize that EVERY online games have a server and a limited time such as time-event, offer limited to shutting down thr server of game. I have four games that have been closed, so I dont wanna play every online game again and stick with offline games and indie games.
I agree with this 100% and cannot understand why there are no real policing of these mobile games!??? I know for a fact but cannot prove (or have anybody to ask for help proving this, can't call the police like you would do if any other crime was happening to you) a mobile game I have been playing over six years changes drop rates on items as they see fit. This is false advertisement in any other business pretty much around the world I would think.?? False advertising is illegal and know for a fact some have been caught with no real consequence for doing it. We need laws and someone who goes into these gaming apps and makes sure devs are being honest & KEEPING them honest. It is literally the wild west for the mobile gaming industry with Google as their president.
@@fickdich564it’s not arguing against the OP; it’s adding to it lol, and that person isn’t wrong “no u stoobid u hardly have an argument” is hardly an argument
The issue is, taking Diablo Immortal as an example, when the game was launched, it received horrendous feedback due to their monetization and was slammed on Metacritic with the lowest user score ever for a game. Afterwhich tons of media coverage and TH-camrs taking about this and publications and forums were flooded with this topic. Fast forward to 2 months ago, Diablo Immortal still made 97million in August. The moral of the story is, players know what they are getting into and they still knowingly play the game. Due to this, the industry isn't going to change anytime soon I am afraid.
@@WEEDH3X Yeap. Just make it so that these monetization practices are treated as gambling, and raise the rating to M. Their largest target demographic are teenagers. Taking that away should be a good blow.
@@WEEDH3X the government have benefits from those companies, like Drugs, Alcohol. So they will do nothing for them if the companies is a source for The economic country, Like Football in Spain.
This video should’ve been primarily made on Diablo Immortal as a worst offender. As far as mobile games go, Unite isn’t “pay to win” by any stretch & it’s kinda crazy that you have that impression. All mobile games want your money, but you don’t need to spend a dime to do well in Unite
Why is nobody talking about this problem ? This is one of the biggest issues I've ever seen. I can't believe no government is putting a stop to this Mrwhoistheboss - you're a hero! Please never stop telling the truth !
It's funny because a lot of these hideous tactics being abused so much it does not feel like a big issue as it should be to a lot of gamers nowadays. Thank you for spreading awareness about this
@@NxVernxual If you've been playing mobile games for long enough you will grow cynical about this these sorts of issues. It's kinda like how DLCs and microtransactions were normalized and people are essentially fine with games coming out uncompleted.
@@piro_ch you’re right, i play a couple of mobile games but luckily none are quite as bad as pokemon unite. But all of them have their own ways of trying to make you pay ridiculous amounts of money for small gains, which just goes to show how widespread the issue is but also how people don’t really mind anymore.
@@piro_ch @Piro Hiponotic I've been playing games like Minecraft Pocket edition, Geometry dash and Fruit Ninja nearly for over than 10 years now or probably less, I've grown thought really weird nonsense and bigger issues than these would you think that may turn you "cynical". It's about this generation's games with the new ones like gacha, genish impact, call of duty and even PUBG that is going on the same road as Free Fire. As MrWhosetheboss said, they are intentionally programmed like this to make you feel better and addicted and continue playing "normally" as you would imagine. I'm saying you're right but the problem is so MUCH BIG to handle on so many different ways financially, economically and even morally not just on the side of the player but even on the government side that supports it with Google by not looking at scams or purchasements
I was literally hooked to marvel contest of champions for 7 years and honestly it cost me thousandsb and stressed me out so much. Many thanks for doing a video like this!
I used to be addicted to that game as well, but only for like an year. And I personally don't feel accomplishment from "buying" things in games; I like to grind. So I never spent any money, it was never even a thought. But it was a fun ride while it lasted.
I actually did my bachelor thesis on this exact same subject (dark patterns in gaming) and I can tell this is spot on! I was baffled by the lengths developers will go to, to make users spend more and more money.
As someone who just recently started picking up COD Mobile on PC (Emulator) I found that a great way to get validation without spending money is the Special camos, like either Gold, Platinum or Damascus, because those require skill and good gameplay to get.
Whats more depressing is the fact that genuine mobile games made with passion such as Angry Birds, Stardew Valley, and Jetpack Joyride no longer exist and get overshadowed by games that guilt trip you into spending tons of money. I'm glad lucky patcher and modded games exist. That should teach those money hungry companies a lesson Edit: I didn't say Angry Birds is different now. I'm saying that mobile games are different now. You can't really find games like Angry Birds anymore. Just look at Rise of Kingdoms and other misleading games. They force you to spend money to progress Edit2: I apologise for mispelling Jetpack Joyride as Jetpack Royale. It has been fixed now
@Marek Krajčovič i think they're aware that the games are still up, they're just saying that there aren't many mobile game developers nowadays that genuinely make games for people to just have fun with, and instead are mostly just money-hungry people and sometimes companies
Let me make this clear, It isn’t hard to get item enhancers, in fact they kind of chuck em at you and super item enhancers bring your items instantly to level 30(btw, you get those for free just by playing). I’ve spent 0$ on this game and have every item at level 30, so there is NO NEED TO BUY ANYTHING. Plus, items are useful but they won’t actually completely change your chances of winning. Your probably just bad at the game (which is fine)
And how much Time did you spend into the Game compared to a Whale ? Whale = one Week, you = a Month or more ? . Thats what's important and one of the messages of teh Video : Most of the People want to be on the same Level as others, in like notime. And thats acually ONLY possible with Money. Great Part of the Game Industry was richer then the Film Idustry ages before Lootboxes, DLC's and this SHit came up....and now they got greedy in all manner.
@@jufref I dont play them, cause i dont support such Business Modells at all. I'm a old Gamer who experianced much better Times...No DLC's (With Content not woth the Money), No Lootboxes...No Part 1,2,3,4,5,6 of the same Game. They should take again just a Baseprice and a Monthly fee, like MMO's where in the Past (Everquest1+2 as example) maybe even for Expansions..if they add Content worth the Money. They make enough Money with the Modell, as said the Game-Industry was way Richer before this "greedness" of them started.
Wow I started this video thinking "Yeah I know these games are scammy and bad" but I never would've thought they're THIS bad and manipulative. Thank you for opening my eyes to this and spreading the message
Just letting you know Pokemon unite is not pay to win. Yes they are trying to make money, that is the entire reason why almost all games exist. The amount items do is not enough to deny you access to the highest rank. It is almost as easy to get to the highest rank with or without items. Most of the things you can buy are cosmetic, game has to make money some how. Pokemon unite has a extremely high skill cap and a really low skill floor. The Pokemon unite portion is fake to an extent. Yes they try and get more money out of you than you want but it's not even tempting if you realise that the game is skill based you aren't remotely tempted by the in app purchases.
@@brodyroberts5230 There are lot of game which you can enjoy without these riggied money minting system . Games that are make you relax is a real game for ex Minecraft, gta , terties. People who play Competitive games are not only gamers. Eg dream , technoblade are biggest names in the gaming industry and they do not play the shitty compative moblie games. they are lot of games which you can enjoy without compativiness . Sandbox games, Rpg games, p v e games these are types of games that you can enjoy
@@brodyroberts5230 I understand that they’re a company trying to make money. I think it’s more about how they’re trying to hide that fact by implementing different currencies etc to make it harder to see that. Keep in mind a large portion of players for most of these video games are kids, who probably aren’t as aware either
@@jeeva1 yes there are, but all games need money. A game can cost money initially like terraria, Minecraft ect or they can be free and have some in-game purchases. Pokemon unite is not perfect but it is better than all the other games mentioned in the vid. And by no means is it pay to win
thank you for doing this! my daughter plays these kind of games and she always wants her allowance in some different game currency. and she's always like "I only have 6 minutes left to get this thing I've always wanted!" I'm going to have her watch this video hopefully it will open her eyes a bit. I always tell her it's a scam but she just doesn't get it.
It has to be so tough. When I was a kid you just didn't care if it was a scam or not. You dont understand the true meaning and value of money at that age. You are hooked line and sinker. Have you showed her yet?
Don't just give her an allowance directly because they won't appreciate it, you should make her earn her allowance through house chores etc so she can appreciate the value of money.
Yeah, what a shame that he didnt actually do any research into the main game he talked about. He just pick and chose the bad bits. Skill? I just run into enemies and die! That means I need to buy items. Literally shown in the video...
As a pokemon unite player myself I feel like there is one more thing. The fondness you have with the Pokémon, whether you see it in the anime or play it on one of the mainline games, the fact that you can play as your favourite Pokémon that you have so many fond memories with makes you go to any height to unlock it. That is why they are now releasing more popular Pokémon and having them behind a gem wall
I think unite is pretty good and loved the game, the only complaint I have is that new Pokémon are behind a pay wall for a week, coming from a 8month unite player
@@skoopmc9119 same, I've been playing PU from the next week it got released on Android and believe me, the game never felt more stressful and hard before. It brings us to a dark conclusion that with time, the developers do get greedy, very greedy.
I remember a few years ago when Arun made video that had a sponsorship from a Mystery Box scam company I felt so disappointed because I genuinely loved his content and was a huge fan for years. I'm so glad to see him grow and learn to where he is today. Awesome content as always!
@@vaanivijay6552 the website was called MysteryBrand and a lot of other TH-cam channels had sponsorships from it at the time. I can't remember which video it was but I'm sure it's deleted after other TH-camrs exposed the website as a scam
Arun definitely does a lot of good “exposé” content like this around scams/consumer issues for a while now, etc and that is what I’m here for (along with the insightful product reviews, I don’t really care for or click into the “I bought the worlds xyz tech” but others do and that’s fine). But anyway glad he’s just using good sponsors like phone case companies or whatever, that has a simple transparent product we can choose to buy or not buy, but we aren’t being misled to buy into dodgy businesses.
I agree with the message behind the video, but touching on Unite, I've never spent a cent on unite ever, and looking at the footage and choices this guy has made in game, i can pretty confidently say that man is simply just bad at the game. The monetary issues that he talks about definitely exist, but this really wasnt the best game for showing an example. Just choose a game like Diablo Immortal where literally everybody already knows about how scummy it is. He even names it two seconds into the video. -Edit: Breh like at --9:55--, my guy literally just walked towards death for no reason. Doesnt choose his level 4 move upgrade, doesnt stay in his goal zone for passive healing when he could just stay there and attack them being a god damn ranged attacker, clearly sees THREE enemy pokemon that can demolish his squishy healthbar in an instant, and just walks towards them.- Footage was not from his own gameplay, but still very much so misleading.
Lol he's a total nooob. I've been playing pokemon unite on the switch since season 1. I've got all my items at level 30 and I've never spent a single penny on the game. You really don't need to. Like right now you can buy scizor with real money, but in a couple of days you can just get him with aeos coins so you don't even have to buy him at all. So yeah, Arun is a total noob. I hope I won't ever get him on my team ; -)
I am a Pokemon Unite player and the game IS about skill. There are different strategies when playing the game. Even if you are a starter you don’t need maxed out held items to “be good” at the game. My sister has no held items only basic things and she does GOOD. The reasons why most people spend money is for cosmetics which are optional things and don’t change the gameplay.
yeah his point was true but not in the case of pokemon unite. i only buy battle pass and nothing else. and its not even needed. you need skill like most moba games. Potion charizard with leftovers as a hold item is wild LOL
It doesnt change the point. If you are a skilled and free to play player, you are simply a fuel for other people to spend more to be better than you, thus profit again.
Ive been playing Pokemon Unite for over a year and have reached masters and high ranks in every season. I've never spent 760 dollars to upgrade any items and currently have almost every item at level 30. The game is very good at giving you free things if you just continue to play and get better.
@@bangerxshane I put 20 bucks in when the game first came out because I wanted to support the game and thought the idea was great. Then used the money to get a skin which dosent impact the game at all
@@ReportMehow Are you "everyone" who plays the game? And did you just suggest every single player to "get better"? lmfao dude, not every finger on the hand is same.
@@ryannasir5081 no I’m saying you naturally get better at a game the more you play it. You can’t be good at anything immediately when you start something and it takes practice. Maybe instead of paying 300 bucks to try and win, try playing the game more and learning how to play it properly.
Honestly, Pokemon Unite is one of the more consumer friendly mobile games compared to most mobile games, considering you can obtain everything that is important for gameplay without spending anything, just by playing regularly for a few weeks. You can get a few max boosts easily but any more will cost you. Teamwork is the most important thing in the game, if you try to go alone without your team like Arun did in this video you will get wrecked regardless. The most egregious thing in the game is the cosmetic stuff which takes the P but the bigger problem with the game is it is repetitive as f.
The mobile game market has spread to many AAA titles and it's annoying. I'm extremely grateful for so many games I can play that do not have this mess and never will. Future mods that fix multiplayer games SBMM and added problems.
@Shmarky yes, its shows you, but that doesn't guarantee the outcome, lotteries are pretty much like that, you know what can go out but it won't guarantee that thing will come out
@Shmarky You clearly didn't watch the video. The whole thing is set up to lure you into thinking you're getting a guaranteed result, but you're really just gambling.
Not entirely It’s mostly due to the increase number of mobile players and time spent on mobile games. People are playing more on mobile than they ever did on console and pc, so it’s only natural to have your IPs where players are.
Dude I am really good doing good in this game...I am getting good ranks etc.....I have spent zero money on this game ....the statements of this vid are total misconception....this guy is just wrong about this game for no reason....he has not even played for a few mins .. doesn't even know anything about this game
Pokemon Unite: I've only spent money in consideration for the skins/holowears, not so much in upgrading item, earning tickets/coins, for someone who has been playing since its release, they have been more than enough. I agree though that the game seems to be overwhelming for those just starting one, you would have the feeling of being left behind.
Another great example of why people need to be able to see downvots ngl. Yes the unite devs want our money, but calling it p2w after saying "all you have to do is just mash your skills on cooldown" is just character assassination. You get to make a statement on a grass roots game you don't play and because your channel has more subs/veiwers than everyone in the community this is what people are gonna see first. And again since there's no visable dislikes anymore pretty much all the average person needs to decide whether or not to play the game.
I commented similarly. I think our power in this is to not watch the video, dislike it, and comment how unethical he was to make a video about a game having not reached out to anyone in the community.
This video hits me SO hard. Unfortunately, I have an addictive personality and I'm extremely impatient and simply cannot abide grinding for something unless there is immediate rewards. What I'm saying is, I need to be the strongest player, but I don't have the patience to grind my way to the top. About 10 years ago, I fell into an MMO (I honestly can't remember the name). The first "mission" (tutorial) gave me a taste of what was to come and the second mission made it seem like I should be able to take down these monsters easily! In the 3rd mission, I got my ass kicked and went back to the character page with my tail betwixt my legs. I tried everything I could to get strong enough without money but, in the long run, I knew my toon would be a weakling without spending a little money.. At that time, I had just opened a company that had an incredibly successful launch and, if projections were correct, I expected a very strong trend for several months. In other words, I had (what seemed to me to be) a ridiculous amount of disposable income! I decided I was going to pay to win! I bought the best armor and the highest ranking spells (I was a sorcerer). I then tried a daily group mission and realized there were toons stronger than I was! Back to the store! I purchased multiple pieces of armor so I could meld them and get a higher level armor. I purchased multiple spells and combined them to make stronger spells. With my new "disposable" income, I became one of the top 5 players on my server within just a month of playing. I was the guy everyone wanted on their team. I was the guy people begged to join the server-wide attack on the incredibly high ranking beastie. Everyone on my server knew who I was and I was loving it! Any time I found my toon not up to a task, I headed back to the store to buy whatever I could to increase my stats. After about 2 months, Jackie (the person I had hired as the bookkeeper for the company) approached me. It seems she was confused about numerous charges, to some company that didn't match any of our suppliers. I told her "Yeah, I know it's stupid but I've been playing this game and I've spent a little money on it. Just take it out of my next couple of checks". When she told me I wouldn't be getting a paycheck for the next 4 months, that got my attention. Jackie showed me list of charges ranging from $10 to $100. I thought I had spent around 4 or 5 thousand dollars but, in light of my new income, I wasn't worried about it. Jackie literally laughed in my face when she heard me say $5k. She then handed me a sheet of paper of charges, filling the entire page. I focused on the bold number circled in red at the bottom right of the sheet and was dumbfounded by the number printed there. $12,470! Yes. I spent $12,000 on a stupid fucking online game in about 2 months! Lemme say that again. I FUCKING SPENT TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS ON AN ONLINE GAME...IN TWO MONTHS! Yes. I know. I'm an idiot. I'm not an idiot because I spent the money. I'm an idiot because I didn't see the flaw in the "pay to win" mentality until I had already lost my mind. Unless I had literally a limitless fortune, there would always be someone willing to spend more money to be better than me. It's crazy how quickly $10-$100 charges will accrue! So, realizing my addiction had blown past the "unmanageable" phase and was firmly in the "idiots do this" realm, I contacted a friend from that game and literally gave them my character and walked away from that game, and those like it, forever. Be careful about the "store" page of these games! It's way easy to justify one payment, but after you've paid once, you feel obliged to do it again because you're already invested. Then when you find something you can't do because you're one level short, it's way too easy to simply pay for that upgrade. Now that you've paid for that upgrade, it doesn't make sense to stop now or you've wasted all that money! So you buy more. And more. And more. I know many people can see through the scam and just play the game without paying for anything, but those games wouldn't exist if there wasn't plenty of people willing to spend their hard earned money on intangible, digital merchandise. One purchase is all it takes to start the cycle. If you're able to resist, great! For those with addictive personalities, like myself, it's probably best to stay away from these kinds of games.
I’m so sorry about you man… I read your entire thing and all I can say is that it is unbelievably easy for these companies to trick you. Remember my words : F2P FOR THE WIN, BABYYY !!!
I remember when we were all clamouring for the removal of loot boxes and we were happy when we started seeing them be removed from games or new games not having them but it turns out all that was is that they found a better method to scam people.
@@TheAkashicTraveller trust me, they will ALWAYS find a way... and they found it after all. Battle Passes are the new scam method and they should be stopped ASAP.
I can agree with you on any other mobile game, but not unite. This game requires skill to play. I know many people, IRL and online (including myself), who have not spent any money on the game, but still have very high rankings. I agree that you can progress faster by paying money, but money can't buy skill. This video is just misleading at this point.
the level 30 held items isn't a limited time thing and is accessible to all players and is permanent and it has been in the game since the day that the game came to mobile
In World of Tanks Blitz, you get deals for tanks saying 10000 gold with original price being 30k gold. In fact, they completely made up the 30k gold because those tanks are only sold in those deals, auctioned out once per year or sold in crates (anywhere from 1500 to 5000 gold per crate) with drop chances anywhere from 0.04% to 2%. It costs $100 to get about 75k gold in the x2 gold bundle.
@@Abu_TuesdayI’m guessing she had Apple Pay or something and she bought stuff using parents money connected to Apple Pay without knowing it was real money
I really wanted to get Minecraft on my phone years ago, but I realized that you have to be a banking expert to purchase this as you have to know the method of spending real digital money...
Well, I get your point and the concepts you mentioned are correct. However as a pokemon Unite player myself. there are ways to win and even rank to master class. You must focus on picking your role, adapting in-game, and choosing a few pokemon to master. yeah, held Items are hard to level up so choose your main pokemon wisely; something you want to play all throughout your journey every season. And there are Aeos ticket's to convert to item enhancers. Also, it's easier to win with friends since you have more coordination. Overall, the gaming industry is leaning towards f2p with in-game micro-transactions but it does necessarily mean less-skill-based they are now.
@@catoblepas8697Could be, but think of this. Many of the people playing these games are children or teenagers. The pressure and want of the in-game rewards is more than enough to get kids to spend money to "earn" them. If most people were so good at the game that they don't need it, this game would not be so popular and wouldn't be advertised as much.
@@SquirrelTheorist Yes but create a video for shit talking a game and dont even try to research the game is just horrible. He just the real Scam in the video.
That whole "sense of accomplishment" thing from assembling your Ikea furniture isn't really a thing in America because you have to assemble anything (furniture) you buy from Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, Ebay, Kmart, Office Max, Big Lots etc..
I have been addicted to quite a few online mobile games over the course of a couple years but never spent a single penny on any of them even though they tried their hardest. I made it my sole mission to be better than as many players as possible, even whales, without paying. Just to assert dominance. The satisfaction of being better than players who are spending real money is the best. Paying money takes the all the fun away.
@@dead_account111I would be the same but mobile legends skin is just so worth it that it force me to get it yes it not p2w only skins for cool looking
Except he picked the wrong game for the topic. Pokemon Unite is anything but p2w. All the resources he mentioned, save the gems, are obtainable in the game completely for free. Of course you can purchase those resources with gems, but you dont have to. Paying doesnt affect matchmaking at all, by watching his footages I can conclude this boy just sucks hard at this game
@@ibnu9969 Its all a gradient of PTW. They don't make these games just for the experience. Their main priority is to make money. How effectively they disguise that determines their success.
@@Stealther no shit sherlock I thought this was a charity OF COURSE they need to make money somehow. Look, I completely agree with his arguments, except he chose the wrong game to be the main subject of the discussion. If it were ANY other moba games I will 100% agree with him. There is no paid gacha element in Unite, you can obtain Aeos energy to use the gacha FOR FREE. There's no such thing as paying customers getting better matchmaking, me for example still getting vegetables as my teammates despite me buying the season pass. This boy just lack the knowledge and the skill at the game, but he's good at spinning his skill issue into an interesting content
This man is literally the king of TH-cam. His content was good enough, man now is literally saving our lives. He isn’t one of those out of touch people, this is his second video addressing relatable and big problems for us people. Thanks Arun, you’re a Top G
super hyperbole , unless you are a child a 100 dollars would hurt but it wouldn't be anything major if you learnt your lesson , might just be me who was f2p on a really p2w mmo for 3-4 years as a kid and now prefers not to pay for anything since all these tactics aren't new (limited time in cash shop item or whatever)
@@linkedlord5449 It really depends on the person. For a middle class american/british/german or any person from a wealthy country, 100 dollars might not seem much, but for people in poorer countries, its very much
My God. Stop being such disgusting fanboys. Yeah the video is fine but many have exposed this shit thousands of times already. Anyone who knows anything about gaming knows mobile games are mostly just glorified casino apps to get money out of you.
When I got thrown in with real players, I had a consistent 20+ kills with Dicidueye. All while having the default held items like leftovers. I had a problem when this guy says it's not about skill when the dude is literally fighting 3 enemies in THEIR zone as a b-roll example. If he's saying that everyone will win this game through pay per win, then it would show. In reality, this guy pays money for overpowered held items, does dumb decisions in-game, and manages to lose, resulting him in complaining that it's still paid-to-win. Bro, it's your skills in the game, held items only help so much.
@bluehawk56 i love gaming and it's a huge part of my life, I used to think of it as a distraction but now I'm starting to see it as it is. Something i enjoy and something i live for. Basically don't try to escape life try to find things to live for
A few updates after having seen the response to this video:
1. From the feedback I've gotten, Pokemon Unite is one of the less malicious Free-to-Play games in this genre. I still stand by the fact that it employs manipulative strategies to earn more from players, but in hindsight there were a few things I could have done to save me spending quite as much as I did. That said, I don't want this to take away from the key message of the video, which still stands and is still incredibly important.
2. Most of the shots in the video and screen recordings were sourced by my editor on my editors account, and so are more to demonstrate the points being made, as opposed to being representative of my own gameplay.
3. I've been informed that it is currently possible to upgrade an item to level 30 without paying real money in Pokemon Unite - this hasn't always been the case and isn't made clear to the player - it seems to be a limited time thing - but nonetheless an oversight on my part!
4. I am completely happy to admit that I am far from the best Pokemon Unite player. That said, while it is true that people with more skill can certainly get away with paying less, for the vast majority of the player base, paying is still the key legitimate way to make progress.
I have actually, by pokemon unite as well
hi
yes
Yass
yes genshin impact it was so addictive glad i left it without wasting a single penny
You would NEVER expect a channel this big to go this HARD and effectively side with the consumer on such a personal level. You are very genuine. Thank you for what you do!
Bruh how did this guy get a heart? The video is 22 mins long and was posted 4 mins ago.. OP didn't even watch the video 💀
Well said
@@abhishh_ek He started out by dissing some of the biggest names in terms of sponsors and anti consumerist practices. I didn't need the whole story to know where this was going, although I was going to watch the whole thing. Not very hard to comprehend, you know.
he should do a meet and greet in nottingham city centre
To be fair to the game you don't need those holowears (the fancy costumes for your Pokemon) to play the game. They don't boost any of your stats or affect gameplay in any way. Also once you obtain those level 20+ items you are pretty set because the game is actually quite skill based. I have been playing the game for about a year now and so far I spent only 9 dollars for the holowears in the battle pass (never once spent them buying the item enhancers), and I have gotten the "Master" rank (the highest rank tier in the game) for 4 out of 6 seasons now. Granted I am not saying the system is in any way a good system, but it's not as bad as it seems.
Whoa as a kid I honestly thought those energy bar things that run out when you play, is to make sure no kid can spend too much time on the game and go outside to socialize 💀
Same, I always thought that too, thank god I did though so I didn't waste any of my pocket money on them.
Dude same. I remember wanting to tell my mom that i wont be wasting my time because there's an energy bar system in this game (i forgot the name but it was a racing game)
i used to just adjust the clock
It's a double edged sword and the other edge is really sharp.👀
@@ramiztudio3208 need for Speed no limits?
I already knew this, but when I was a child I was playing a game on my fathers mobile, I saw all the offers in the shop and all the great rewards, and i realized that my dad probably has money on his phone, so I bought 2 of the offers. When my dad came back home, he wasn't mad, instead he taught me about what this video is teaching. I've never spent money on any in-game purchases since.
Your dad is a smart person. Good for you.
That’s a good father figure to look up to, I know a lot of dads that would just loose their shit and start punishing their child.
Your dad is a legend
Most wouldn't know why there kids do that and think it's them been dumb
While in reality the dev try to use every single trick in the book to make them buy
Such a great dad
Based dad
Big red flag: when a game has like 10 different in-game currencies
Even just the coins and the gems are enough for me
That is a giant neon red flag the size of Texas
Yeah! The aeos energy made it even worse and so much more confusing
I miss when you could just buy a game, enjoy a good story, and that was it
You still can. Just stay away from mobile games, free to play games, and live service games.
@@Zack_Mee_Nhatz Actually, he can play a few mobile ports, as Dead Cells (only "extra" pays are the expansion DLCs), Stardew Valley, and many more.
@@Pestigirioso DLC is not really comparable to this practice. You still get fair value (or you don't if reviews are bad)
Well unfortunately whole world goes to subscription. Its a plague of today's world.
Kinda like skylanders
Normally when a game bombards me/spams me with in app purchases, I just uninstall the game.
same, but i just dont play it, I'm too lazy to uninstall.
same
Bro
Don't listen to him
He's a noob
I literally play the game about 2 yrs ago and still didn't pay a single dollar on it
Also the held items just needs to be lvl 20 not 30 to be good
Agreed played it since it released have almost every pokemon have every held item at 30 no money paid
@Anas-fu6mo, As a kid you have no money to spend either way lol.
As a Pokemon Unite player I agree that the monetization is some of the worst things about the game, but the game is not pay to win, it's pray to win. As in pray that the trolls, afk and clueless players are on the enemy team instead of your team XD
+1
Same
Is pay to win faster
Totally!! 😂😂
Totally agree, game is really fun. Only downside I see is as you mentioned the afk or clueless players otherwise this game is one of my favourites X.
It's not only purchases but also smaller mobile games being full of ads
Yeah that's true, you play a game for a few minutes then you get bombarded by ads that you can exit, sometimes you need to watch ads to unlock some hidden features
I've seen games that are legitimately so ad-ridden that it's faster to close out of the program and restart it than it is to skip through them. I've also seen games where the performance goes up by a noticeable amount after turning on airplane mode so the ads can't load, though many games will have countermeasures if you choose to block ads that way
@@QwerbeyI recently went on an old online games website I used to play when I was younger and one of the new games was those typical waiter games, and to get upgrades quicker or even gets the tips from the bigger spenders, you had to watch ads. It did not take me long to realise the game itself is not that fun or challenging, all it really is is a means to get kids to watch ads. It was sad to see how soulless some of the games had gotten, what developers are doing now knowing what they can get away with
It's not just mobile games - so many apps have embraced this business model. From dating apps to language learning apps - it's the same techniques over and over again. They don't set out to deliver what the app promises - be that teaching you Japanese to finding a partner - they just want you to pay.
I read that with a genuine Arun voice in my head - his inflections sure rubbed off onto your post there.
this comment is like dlc to the video
renshuu is a free Japanese learning app I've found to be pretty helpful 🤷 I could go on about how cool it is but it's probably better if you check it out yourself
There is still a game that’s 2$ and has a lot of content and has no in app purchases/ads:geometry dash
Yes, the dating app will show me the picture of a real hot girl who liked me.
But I can’t like her back unless I sign up for their subscription. 🙄
This is why I’ve gone back to play ‘retro’ games and avoid online gaming as much as I can. If I want to play games on my phone, I use emulators and just play classic games I loved growing up.
likewise bro
What emulators do you use and how? Id love to play retro games on my phone
Ya me to i am play psp and 2ds games i never played because of p2w games like free fire shits stuff
I do retro gaming on my computer, but on my phone I actually go with one time purchase games. They can be more expensive upfront, but once I buy it I own it without restrictions
all hail sonic the hedgehog
I'm guessing Arun isn't sponsored by Raid Shadowlegends.
Probably the only youtuber 🤣🤣
I KNOW RIGHT!!! Was literally thinking that's gotta annoying all the youtubers that are sponsored by them.. So good of Arun to expose these shady tactics. Had a fair idea about it but this explained it all so well. Reminded me of the one time I ever went through a phase.. thought it was a bit different but clearly followed these tactics.
also, can see why they have the money to sponsor every youtuber.. assume it's well worth the add money to have popular creators push your addictive ...products
He doesn’t need too, he has 12 million subscribers
@@turkeysgotmorecloutthanyou Hacksmith has that many subs and advertises Raid so....... whilst you're right, Arun does have 12 Million subs and does not 'need' too.. that same argument could be made about others, who still do it..
There’s a mobile game I play, where there always seems to be some kind of special offer. There’s a banner that says *16 HOURS LEFT!* , the next day it says something like *18 HOURS LEFT!*
Codm do that a lot! 😂
@@JakeSmith-c2bfr bro
I played Unite on my Switch when it was first released. I never spend any real money, I ground out everything and leveled up everything. There is an amount of strategy involved in knowing each Pokémon's skills and abilities. Like I said, I never spent a single cent on the game, and I would still destroy people who clearly spent money on Pokémon and extra tidbits. This was of course when the game came out, so I don't know how much it has changed since then.
They added a lot more inclusivity, with multiple new player bonuses and more free things at the start (such as the power to make three of your items fully levelled instantly). If you take advantage of those and still lose, you realise that maybe you’re not playing the game right and its about how you play. The game is actively putting you in a position where you dont feel like you are monetarily behind and that its not about that at all, its actually how good you are as a player.
Hasn't changed that much. What he said was false
You didnt upgrade leftover didya?
@@구구구-v5i the one of the useless held item in the game?nah
yeah your experience is the usual. He prob just got rekt by real players after feeling good against bots
This moment, when you don't play the game, but the game plays you.
This has an "In Soviet Russia" vibe to it. "In the west, you play games. In Soviet Russia, the games play you!"
@@wolf1066 make sense
😢
Holy crap this is a casino disguised as a video game.
average mobile experience
I've played Pokemon Unite for a long time and used to win most of my matches. Never felt the need for buying anything, even when my items weren't fulled out, it wasn't that hard to win.
You have probably played moba before, that's why. The dude was probably a complete noob. After the tutorials had to face real opponents and got steamrolled because of the lack of experience. He thought the problem were the items and not the fact he was trying to 1vs2 against players with higher level.
@@mence5992 yep, i did play moba before and Pokémon Unite is by far the easies one to play
@@diegopestana808 unite is a really accessible moba
I agree. This video can be true about other games but not pokemon unite.
cool blog bro
I come from a generation where no one has even heard of microtransactions. We were shocked by the $2.50 horse armor in Oblivion. And for today's young generation, microtransactions are normal. It's really terrifying.
As someone who foolishly spent money in genshin impact, I felt this on a spiritual level.
I think someone here has lost their 50/50 on Qiqi💀💀💀
🤣🤣🤣
gayshit impact? lol
😂😂😂
Same same, remembering the total I've spent I'm glad I stopped spending beginning this year 😢😢
I’ve been playing Pokémon Unite since it came out last year, I’ve spent the entire time as a free to play player. It’s just a matter of knowing what you need to do to not have the urge to spend any money.
(for me it’s not having any lol)
Dude not everyone is smart like you and me, there will be people who will be fooled by it.
If he had patience and determination he could have climbed up w/o spending any money
Lot of kids play these games , do you think they can think reasonably? They will definitely fall for this.
@@IthquaisChibi true he just played it for like a 2 weeks ago and say some wrong information about the game, he clearly dont know the mechanics of the game.
Some people just think they win few games and they are the best of the world that can win against the experienced players. He didn’t really make research before being such a whiny baby.
Me with no money : YOUR POWER IS USELESS AGAINST ME FOOL
ACTUALY TRUE HAHAHA
F2P PLAYERS ARE THE GOAT OF GAMING 🗿🗿🗿
F2P all the way baby!! Never had to spend a cent and still got to master rank... Not sure what he complaining about 😂
@@AdounisCedolin lmao
@@AdounisCedolin GrandMaster IV without a cent. Trying for legendary
This is the sole reason, I love skill-based games. BGMI, CODM and other battle royales where you just can't be good by spending money. Spending in these kinds of games will only get you as far as good skins. Battle royales need your time in the game for you to actually be good. You can't just buy your way to 'Ace' or other high ranks. The currency of battle royales is time.
Yes, I liked my own comment......
no way bro, codm has weapon skins that do more damage than normal skins among other things, whether you like it or not, all of these give you advantages if you pay
@@Samuel-sjqwa Which call of duty do you play, I've been playing CODM for 4 years and never knew this
@fauzan9752 all mythic gun skins in codm either have better iron sights or straight up built in red dot sights, not to mention these mythics cost up to 150$-200$
what is bgmi?
we originally thought the amount you'd need to spend to "max out a character" in diablo immortal was $130,000 - BUT if you actually max out one of the legendary gems, it opens up five extra (previously invisible) slots - meaning it costs at least 6x as much as we thought.
That’s still like $20,000 to max out a character.
@@trueskillz1567 you don't make any sense
@@rahulk2633 I misread 6x as much as 6x less
Cool
@@trueskillz1567 untrueskillz moment
What I've noticed is once you identify the manipulative techniques being used you start to see them everywhere not just in gaming.
Enlighten me....
The unecessary updates on the apps on your phone, even the software updates trains your mindset that you will always need to upgrade and change phones and it always has to be the latest
@@makyu9176 for me, latest means the newest android versions. i just throw a custom rom on my phone and I'm good
@Shortest Movie Rants ok?
This video itself is a good example of it.
He makes up some controversy on a popular game he knows nothing about and… bam… clicks.
I just want to say that I have got into Master Rank in Pokémon Unite without spending a single dollar ever, not even on skins. I don't think that it's pay to win as it's showed in this video, they usually gift A LOT of Licenses and items to enchance Items to lvl 30 for free. Lately they have been letting you get new Pokémon without paying but by making daily missions. Also, the weekly coin limit is really high, specially compared with other free mobile games, so you can get a lot of skins and items just by playing.
I do hate that they try to push you that much into buying stuff, though, but that's just 21th century consumism.
Ya he got it wrong here.
I’m with u. I’m an 1800 master player and have all my items all over lvl 20 and almost all licenses w/o spending money. This game is very generous and I know that cuz I used to play mobile legends (another f2p mobile moba) and I had less than half the charters and couldn’t keep up with new charter releases.
Why isn't this the top comment, it shows a message that f2p is the right way to play the game
THANK YOU this video made me so mad because he did not know what he was doing in the games and frivolously spending his money for pointless things
Because they are lying
I'm going to be honest. This reward factor never works on me.
that's how a tech channel should be,not just mobiles and laptops
Sadly he is out of his element here and got almost everything wrong. Maybe it's best to just stick to mobiles and laptops.
@@catbeans4685 true...
Yeah good video and can really relate, even if a game is getting slow the grinding is going, you don’t want to lose all the time and effort you put into it, so then you have to pay or you have to put even more time and effort, and if you aren’t on the paying side, you will ALWAYS be playing catch up, or they would have to keep really weak for a very long time to be strong one update like saving gems, the best option is to honestly just quit but it’s a really hard decision to make, they give free to play players like max rarity units who use to be good but a new max rarity character would be way way way better and maybe even non max rarity characters so you feel you got something good but in reality it’s nowhere close to the new stuff, I just quit all games like this and that’s why I was so sad overwatch closes yesterday, I legitimately don’t want to play overwatch 2 (I got overwatch preordered) and overwatch 2 locks so much behind levels and battle passes, all my friends want to try it but I can’t go from overwatch one which close to the 2nd game today because of that, I’m probably going to log in see it then just close the game for a really long time.
@@rimimimimimimimim4170 No. Very bad video. Yes many game use those tactics. Pokemon Unite was a poor choice and showed how content he is with putting out a video while being blissfully ignorant on the subject or just flat out clickbait.
@@catbeans4685 you're soo addicted you even side with the game jeez
I think unite is one of the worst examples for showing this problem. If one informs themself sufficiently, you can quickly find out that spending money does almost nothing for your wins lol. And you can get everything non-cosmetic by just playing the game. There are 1000s of games that are way better examples that rly are p2w to their core..
Exactly! I know this is just me personally, but I haven't spent a single dollar on unite and find it very fun and playable
I don't know about you, but having 7 currencies is a bit of an overkill and screams "give us money"
@@raceris7309 Not to mention Pokémon is one of the biggest IPs in the entire world, which makes him bringing it up as a main example feel like it makes a lot more sense for more casual people that don't know what's going on with some of their games at hand in the first place.
Yes I feel he blatantly criticised the wrong game. Now the current players know how it is. But the ones who might download in the future are stopped from doing so, given his fame in this platform
@@raceris7309 I get what u mean but there's only one paid currency. The rest you can easily get through playing. And nothing in the game other than skins and other cosmetics is gated behind a paywall, meaning that your stats can be maxed without paying. This fact alone makes it better than 99% of every other mobile game. Also unite is primarily a nintendo switch game, thus also not fitting into the trope of 'mobile' game as much as many others. Its just a bad example for the point he is trying to make.
‘Preying on Addiction’ is a very accurate and disturbing term.
Mobile publishers have turned into modern-day drug lords
this vid is why i play fortnite
bruh i typed this comment before i watched the vid ;-;
😆
I have never played Fortnite - is it filled with micro transactions and such described in the video?
@@st.michaelthearchangel7774 Nah everything is free except for skins. It's fun but hard.
Sounds like you're on a mission! Exposing the tactics and practices of some mobile games can be quite enlightening. Many people might not be aware of the ways these games can manipulate users into spending money or watching ads.
I'm honestly the ULTIMATE anti-consumer for these games lmao. I've played a few of these types of games, never paid and always end up putting the game down when i run out of stamina or game coins and it needs to recharge. To the point that I sometimes even forget to open the game to the reward bonus.
I am completely unable to form a habit with these games at all, because it feels more like a hassle to just get the game open and thus I become somewhat resistant and end up dropping the game out of boredom or play real games on my switch or pc.
yeah i know right haha
The ultimate anti consumer would be someone who doesn't play the game at all. As stated in the video, even if you don't spend, you are still providing the whales another player they can safely know beneath them, adding to their rush and making them play and spend more (as long as their is even the tiniest amount of competitiveness in the game, which most games have. Even just a simple leaderboard suffices. Being first out of ten thousand feels way better than being first out of ten, even if 9990 of the other players don't really play the game at all. The number is still there). So while your contribution is admittedly very small and your resistance to these manipulations is admirable, you are unfortunately still contributing to the system, no matter how insignificant it may seem.
Just play non competitive games like nonogram or sudoku on your mobile and play the real games on your pc, it is better for your eyesight anyways. ;)
(I mean, you already said you are basically doing that, I would just encourage you to not even try these competitive mobile games like you said you do. They are literally nothing but a waste of time anyway, they offer you nothing worthwhile in return.)
There's a game called homescapes, this guy's give insane bonuses and by the time you realize it you are spending 7 hours a day and you are doing nothing but playing it
I am also that person who is always free to play never spending any money on the game
For me brawl stars is the game which actually cares about their f2p players and give tham every other brawl pass to enjoy
And win depends on the skill not money
True. They make you do chores after chores. Sure kids would love to play these kind of game for the first time. But maan it dies fast. In the end they going to go for forum and community which filled with Narcisist. Its funny how this generation kind of shaped, while classic one were shaped by community. Today it shaped by company.
Wiseman once said. 'The more perfect you feel, the more greedy you are.'
Great video! But, as a Pokemon United player who reached Master Rank without spending any money at all, I have to say that in PU game knowledge and skills are far more important than the money you spend. Look at Spreagels reaction to this, he points out what is actually correct about Pokemon Unite's costs.
Everything he said still stands, but I also think if you spend a lot money on in game purchases your an idiot ,as for example I've spent nothing and I've even played clash of clans since 2013 and many other similar games to this)
@@elismart13 a lot of the things he said do not stand...
@@elismart13 He used a bad example and played like a complete idiot. His opening had me thinking: "If Pokemon Unite was actually P2W, would he spend 100$ to easily beat every match and make a video about PU being P2W?".
He was going to shame Pokemon Unite as a game regardless of whether it was good or not. He got so much wrong in this video, if he had reached out to a PU streamer or looked at the community he would've gotten more clarity on the tricks PU uses to keep people playing AND judge how P2W this game is.
"I poured so much time and love into my account"
UniteAPI: This user played 28 matches (= 280 minutes = 4 hours 40 minutes) with a fairly decent win rate.
He nitpicked, he strawmanned, he lied to you. If he wanted to make a good video he would've chosen a better game to review.
@@elismart13 coc is ass noting is good to have
@@elismart13 I do not see a point that stand, i am a very dumb being, please point it out
He is never ever getting sponsored by a mobile game in his life and he probably knew that yet still made this video my respect for him is through the roof.
Not supercell games, in that games F2P players can get everything whales get... expect cosmetics, which gives 0 competitive advantage
Well any mobile game that's in the video to say the least lol.
@@paarshadtrivedi7569 nah bro it will take years to max the base in coc or get all the cards maxed in clash of royal they are the most greedy mobile game co.
Raid shadow legends doesn't care 🤣
@DoriDorisuke its ok? you dont even need to pay real money to buy battle pass
I’m 34 now. I learned all this when I was in my early twenties from playing clash of clans. I also have a PR and advertisement degree where we learned how to create desires within people and the art of spin
Pretty much. Seems like Arun made this for the new generation, rather than those of us who were around for the birth of smartphones' mobile gaming micro transactions.
I always hated clash of clans when all my buddies would play it in high school.. I was like, " wow, I get the wait 7 hours in real time to do anything after 3 moves? How fun is this!😑"
I'm glad people are pointing out the Pokemon Unite part. If this was actually one year ago, then you could see the argument like MoistCritikal's video, but Pokemon Unite has actually improved since then. Now they have free lvl 30 item enchancers you can get by just playing the game so your not behind on item levels. The only "predatory" thing in the game is arguably the skin and gacha mechanic with emblems. Skins are just skins and they dont affect stats. Emblems you can't just outright buy them. You have to earn them by consistently playing the game and doing good in those games.
TLDR Pokemon Unite was not a good example for being Pay to win.
Moistcriticals video was also bullshit even back then. The major advantage from items comes at level 20 which you were able to get easily without paying even on the games release. The stat increases you get from lvl 20 to 30 are negligible and a complete non factor to having more success.
@@JamesDaCostaMusic was about to say this
Agreed. You actually need skill to play. It's a MOBA.
@@JamesDaCostaMusic right
this man just pick randomly while keeping hes eye shut and have the mindset of this game will milk me AND make a very bias research u can tell from all hes "proves" are just general game marketing and not really about the game not to mention he dint even mention the recent real predatory marketing strategy that unite made up being new released pokemon now is actually behind real money paywall when it released
This is one of the reasons I mostly stopped playing video games anymore. Instead, of making a fun enjoyable game, video games are now used as money making machines. Kids are specially vulnerable to this. This video needs to spread further to bring awareness, so eventually a law might be passed to prevent video game develops from exploiting an addiction.
Play Minecraft!
mostly mobile games and those games made by money hungry studios, if I may recommend some games for you, Webbed, Cuphead, Don’t Starve Together, Untitled Goose Game and of course Minecraft are all very much personal favourites of mine. The only one that may offer purchases is DST, but they are all for skins and characters, which do not break the pure difficulty and survival aspect of the game. Webbed is a personal favourite of mine, second only to Minecraft. Love the mechanics and web physics it comes with. Aanyways this message is way too long so goodbye
Many full price games also do this, like call of duty with its crazy slow grind for maxing out a gun or any Ubisoft game that lets you pay to skip the grind, but there are a lot of really good games from indie studios that are made as passion projects.
Arun should go after Fifa next
@@cartoon29_58 u mean basically all aaa titles and other offline games on steam
I work as an artist in one of the mobile gaming giants and all the strategies to pull out cash from players are really dirty sometimes! A lot to left for you to dig...
Why do you work with them then?
@@thatgreypain Money! 🦀
Spill the tea buddy! We're all ears
When I tried Pokémon Unite, I thought it was all bots because I never lost a match. However I also spent no money, maybe spending money triggers something now they know you're willing? Or maybe just poor matchmaking, I have no idea.
The saddest Part why most people doesn’t oppress this is that it has become such a common thing nowadays, creating a feel that this is just what a game should be… kudos to Arun for standing against it
Even worse, some people actually still like it and defend such practice because they think " I have fun with this game for free, why should I care about addicted people being exploited"
@@S41t4r4 fax. Most common thing people say to defend these predatory practices is that " it's a free game and you don't HAVE to spend money so it's no problem"
The problem lies with the game being Free, this shit happens in free pc games too because that's their only way of income
@@apexheat6553 Another take I see often is " But game XY has no p2w just visual stuff" to defend games like COD mobile, Overwatch et cetera. Basically, ignoring most of the argument against psychological manipulation.
@@S41t4r4 yup. Codm is the main game I play and I'm sure you know about the custom Red dot for ironsights on the mythic and some legendary guns. This may not be directly pay2win but its very close as you are paying for a tangible advantage compared to if you didn't. The subtlety of theses purchases is what allows it to get so far without receiving backlash
You made a good point, but am not so sure about Pokémon unite. I am f2p and maxed out all the items to 20. Aeos gems only buy skins. You simply lost due to skill cap. It is not about mashing buttons. There are championships and it’s very competitive.
Other than that keep up the good work!
Hey, don't tell them the truth. He's horrible at the game and puts it on P2W
@@jackson6032 exactly
Being f2p and p2w are peoples choice for their place style as a f2p I have some pretty good stuff and win quite a lot, but being p2w is also ok, that’s their play style. I can wait though, it’s just people who just want to be powerful at the start buts it’s more about strategy, when I get teamed and destroyed I move to the bottom lane and since everyone is at top, I can freely stack aeos cookie and score a lot.
But he is not wrong about the making you make the first purchase first thing. I really liked the mew theme previous month, so I got it, now that I know how easy it is to pay by 2-3 taps, I most likely would have paid more if not for this video.
@@custard-pie3467 I get it but that's on you. Pokemon Unite has no restrictions when it comes to Gameplay.
Me and my Brother play the game free fire, we have been playing it for 6 years now. And I know a few people who have spent so much money on that one game that their families started to wonder about their financial situation. Me and my brother in total spent around 16 dollars on that game in 6 years and we two are brilliant players and have won multiple tournaments. You don't need to spend $1000 to become good at a game, I became exceptional with $16 so you can to!
The ONLY thing in unite you can spend money on in unite for an actual advantage is buying new Pokémon. (Which can be acquired for free later with work) .
I agree with the premise of the video, but Unite is absolutely the worst example you could have picked. Their gotcha mechanic is pretty much just cosmetics & the battle pass (which is a decent deal compared to many other f2p games).
I’ve spent maybe 15 dollars at most on the game after playing it for nearly a year on purely cosmetic things.
In many other games by the end of the week you can feel pressured to spend 100 dollars at the end of one week to advance.
Unite has many problems, but pay to win isn’t one of them.
problem I feel the most is weird matchmaking, shitty report & block button and always releasing speedster & attacker
@@Ceonbe They just started releasing speedsters after like a year, but I agree with what your saying
Genshin impact is much more manipulative
Fr
The game isn't even playable for all this time...
It was like a alpha version without much to do and had issues because the players got bored immediately so it was extremely difficult to find players available to play against for a while.
This makes me scared for what company’s could do by deploying tactics like this in the meta verse
People care about Metaverse?
@@rohitlohan9854 the foolish investors do
That is literally why people are trying to bring it about. It's just a giant grift
Don't forget the owner of Meta has paid millions in criminal finds.
Ready Player One addresses some of that, but yes. It is a fearful thing when people do not want to educate themselves about tech. They are too distracted by the experience.
“And no matter how much money I paid, I still kept losing!”
Wow, it’s almost like you can’t pay to win Unite…
yeah, honestly he's being sarcastic here. also the footages of him playing unite were all feeds (him vs a ninetails >2-3 levels higher or him vs 2-3 opponent pokemons)
@@omarchesabangan7977 how is he being sarcastic? What point would that serve his argument for this vid?
How is he being sarcastic?
He simply disproved his entire video with this one statement.
Yes, the examples shown in the video are feeds, but that doesn’t imply sarcasm to the viewer. More so he’s trying to misinform others about Unite by showing only bad plays that he made.
@@LocalHobo631 arun is intentionally trolling or feeding in unite. He lose on purpose just to get his point however there many players reach masters 1600 points without any items nor emblems. Its call "skill gap"
I have NEVER paid a free game money for a pass or useless item. I would rather cheat, hack or crack the game. A one time purchase game like Factorio, Rimworl, Terraria, Minecraft etc. i wont but free games that are literaky offline but charge money are worth cheating at.
The fact that the whole first half of this is the bare minimum I expect from any mobile game I play. But eh, can't scam you out of what you don't have
Poor
@@RazerClaw7 a good protection
Nice pfp
@@RazerClaw7 the difference between him being poor and you spending money on mobile games is at least he isn't stupid enough to lose thousands.. or more!
I'd say the poor have out classed most suckers for mobile games.
For real
I think the points made are real and important, but the Unite example isn't the best one. Unite is very F2P friendly, handing out a lot of things for new playes to start at a similar item level to other players. Another game you could have covered that would have made more sense imo is Genshin Impact. A lot of the points made can easily be translated to Genshin, and a lot more people spend a lot more money in it.
Overall, great video topic, it's important that people know that most free games are designed to make you spend.
Edit : to rephrase a little more, the point of this comment was to say that Genshin Impact is a better and more pertinent example as to how a game makes you spend since it has made an insane amount of money for a free game.
Yep. Genshin is a better example....unfortunately to say.
I don’t know about that, money on Genshin can only buy you characters, and a well built 4* can easily be better than a poorly built 5*. I’ve been f2p since I started two years ago, and my account is way better than a lot of paying accounts.
@@maelysearl-sur4777 It's true that you can play Genshin Impact as a f2p, but my point is that Genshin Impact is a much better topic when talking about a free game designed to make as much money as possible
@@finiraelkhami8251 They spent 100 million to make the game, and spend 200 million a year on maintaining it. How much do you think this pokemon game cost to make and maintain?
@@finiraelkhami8251 I don’t think it is desinged to make people spend money, there’s no pop-ups, limited time deals and stuff like that. Some of the better characters and equipment is free (Bennett > Qiqi, the catch > Vortex Vainquisher, thrilling tales > everlasting moonglow) and I’ve not ever been pushed to pay, at least not by the game.
Unite is not pay to win. It is monetized. The issue is matchmaking and how little people are punished for trolling/AFKing. I’ve had similar matches where we turned around being down into wins but then same situation have players rage quit and AFK. There’s also issues with game not telling you effective strategies to winning and solo que is much worse than running with friends where you can chat on a discord call and coordinate better.
That's not the biggest issue. Not that many people troll.
The main issue is that you get paired up with people who are clearly total noobs and have no idea how to play the game, even when you're already high level master. That's the part I hate
And the thing I hate the most is the fact that you get instantly muted for hours and then days at a time just because someone reported you. You might not have said anything bad at all. It's just because THEY decided to report you, that you instantly get punished with no verification at all. The game just believes them. That's really bad
this is true... its often matchmaking goes so bad, afk and troll player
So the items that you can buy don't give any buffs in the match? because that would then be pay to win. Skins and cosmetics that don't effect game play is monetisation i.e. league of legends
@@ZuperElectro you don't need to spend real money to buy/upgrade the items, hell they even give out free items when you're leveling up
yadayada the game is p2w wether u like it or not.
Wait till this guy plays Clash Royale
There are definitely mobile games out there that are p2w, but Pokémon Unite isn't one of them. Certainly you can spend money to get new Pokémon, but you can also farm the coins to aquire them as a f2p. Most people spend money on the cosmetics which has no bearing on the stats of the Pokémon.
Buying new Pokémon or those cosmetics also have no impact on the gameplay. That is entirely skill-based and tries strongly on your team (if were all working together, etc).
I'm F2P and if I do spend money, it's just gonna be for the Unite Membership, some cosmetics and/or some Pokémon... and that's if I choose to.
Even if I don't choose to, I don't feel like I'm behind other players (unlike other mobile games) and it's nice.
He's not saying Pokémon unite is P2W but P2P, pay to progress, again his take on the game is from the perspective of a newbie player, hence exactly the perfect target for the developer and their monetisation system, experienced F2P obviously won't fall for it and ofc the game isn't blatantly unfair, it still matches you with bots occasionally, but getting into the competitive leagues is very very difficult for F2P, as someone with almost 10 years of experience with gacha, nothing he said in the video is wrong about the monetisation nor the tactics used
@@Hhhh22222-w I'm Veteran rank working my way to Ultra, and I didn't spend any money to get there. It's not p2w or 'pay to progress'.
It's a switch/mobile game that has p2w aspects, sure, but a new player or f2p player can get to the same spot as an experienced player without opening their wallet. It just requires skill (I.e. knowing your Pokémon and what it can and can't do) and decent teammates.
And yes, it will be a bit slow in upgrading your held items if you're full f2p (as it is for me), but again... I'm at Veteran rank working my way to Ultra. So I'm progressing fine.
@@Hhhh22222-w that’s the thing. Unite was a bad example because it is not P2W or P2P at all. It is a MOBA. It is all about skill, you get three lvl 30 items for free, and if you choose the correct ones, that can be the best three for almost half the roster. You have to play to progress, not pay. As evidenced by his own experience... he payed a ton, equipped the wrong items for his chosen character, is honestly just bad at the game and got trounced by better players who likely didn’t spend a dime. I could start a fresh account right now and get to masters within a week spending nothing on the game.
@@Hhhh22222-w ye but even while being F2P, I reached the highest rank of the game every season without ever feeling behind of anyone.
@@Hhhh22222-w your 10 years of gacha should show you how wrong his take it but either you're lying about your experience or you've learned absolutely nothing from it. The only ones who pay to progress are ones who will never be good enough and are desperate for success.
I have never spent a single cent in Pokemon Unite and still manage to win, even carry games. Unite does want you to buy stuff, yes, but they also give you a bunch of stuff for free. Held items in general don't even do that much though. The best way to stop losing games is not paying money, but it is to learn the mechanics of the games and how to just get good. I feel like people saying Unite is a P2W game is honestly just a skill issue lmao
Hey, I don't play this game so I will totally take your word for that it is skill based. I just wanna point out that: "... they also give you a bunch of stuff for free." really sounds like drugdealers who are giving a free sample. Except for that the drug dealers actually give you something that has any real word value. This does not cost the game company anything! Enjoy the rest of your day:)
You completely ignore all the times he's mentioned that the game mentions that he needs to pay level up, etc, it's not about gameplay mechanics, it's about game monetisation, your lack of understanding comprehension is a skill issue.
He didn't say the game was P2W, but that it scams new players into believing they need to pay to progress and therefore win, if he paid and suddenly won a lot then that would mean Pokémon unite is P2W, he mentions Diablo immortal as being P2W, again your English is a skill issue.
@@Hhhh22222-w Did you even watch the video? Quoting @
Mrwhosetheboss "this game is less about skill on the battlefield.. its more about how strong you make your pokemon before you step foot on the battlefield"
@gekuul Only mentioned the part of the video of pokemon Unite where its misunderstanding of winning the game by paying for better items with a huge advantage. But its only the lack of skill by the player and understanding how a MOBA game works. Therefore it may be concluded that the tutorial lacks some deep understanding of a MOBA game
And yes manipulating players into buying shady lootboxes and multiple currencies is indeed a shady business
@@Hhhh22222-w MrWhoseTheBoss kept losing cus of skill issue, not due to him not having items, idk what to tell you outside of that. Lv 30 items are so insignificant that its not even worth upgrading them unless you have every item to lv 20 already.
@@Hhhh22222-w bruh but many of the times in the earlier levels no one even has them leveled up cause all the other players are new as well and they dont have their stuff leveled either and you can just win by being good at the pokemon you picked it's not even possible to lose in the beginning first 2 3 weeks at all, legit an actual skill issue.
I like how they are just openly telling us how they trick and manipulate us in a recorded presentation.
They're not telling us, they're teaching devs.
@@realisticadvisor9931 I meant like their telling us the consumers how they manipulate and drain us of our cash
@@WillysStuff pretty sure we're not the target audience and there are classes in university in CS and psychology teaching in depth too
You know what I mean
The same goes for other businesses. They teach how to attract consumers to buy the products. Basically, they are tricks and manipulations.
this video needs to be shared around the entire world
ok this is genuinely just a skill issue king, you dont need to spend a penny to do well, just know how to play properly
edit: it's really easy to figure out through watching good players play and trying to emulate their plays in your own matches
yea that's kind of what I thought tbh. I've played Pokémon unite before and I never spent a dime yet could still get some good kills and won most games. as much as it pains me to say, its just a skill issue.
Even if it does take skill, it doesn’t detract from the egregiousness of the monetization, and the psychological tricks it tries to play on you.
@@ArcticWolfOfficial True but at the end of the day you’re the one in charge of your own money so if you REALLY don’t want to spend any on the game, you just won’t
@@ArcticWolfOfficial furthermore, unite is a free, relatively well designed game with no ads, if they didn't have in-game purchases then they would go bankrupt
@@ArcticWolfOfficial if he wanted to make a mobile.monetization video, I think unite is not the best example. It employs the tactics but is nowhere near as egregious as the likes of Diablo
This is why I mostly play single player games nowadays and avoid anything free to play. I usually have enough self-restraint to avoid buying microtransactions, but they are so annoying that I'd rather buy a full-priced game than have to deal with F2P microtransactions and the systems that come with it. I also hate when games try to get you to play daily whether it's through timers/energy or daily rewards/missions. The "habit" part was what burned me out on MMOs since it ended up feeling more like work than fun to log into the game every day and play the bare minimum just to not fall behind on progression.
He makes good points but used an absolutely terrible example. Pokemon Unite isn't as Pay to Win as he makes it appear to be. You could literally reach Masters without paying a single penny. If you want new Pokees on release date (which is grindable after the first week) or new skins then yeah spend some money! Devs have to make a living.
And thats why Minecraft is good
@@dumzacs7628 fr. This video is absolutely misleading
@@dumzacs7628 They shouldn't make money by praying on neuro-untypical people. I'm clad you haven't spent a dime, but millions of people whose financial situations don't allow it have.
@@gekkouga2828 WHY WOULD YOU PAY 100 DOLLARS IN A FREE TO PLAY GAME
I’ve worked 6 yrs in the online gambling industry.
All the concepts discussed were disco and first used in online gambling.
Sign up bonuses to break the barrier is essential to the acquisition strategy. Push towards slots with high volatility (small wins but much more often) gets you hooked on the reward stimulation and perception that the big win (like levelling up quick but the level you want to be is so far and impossible) that only whales really get. The concept of in-game currency comes from buying tickets for tournaments in the casino. This was developed in the 90s. I think I made my point in how the mobile gaming system is literally and purposefully designed based on the online gambling industry.
The difference I think is most important is that online gambling has regulations in place. There are companies that monitor and reign in industry. Even worse, the mobile gaming industry is aimed at children and is much more sinister in fostering addiction than online gambling could ever be.
But he used the worst examples of "P2W" games
@@fabiaaquino2207 "I know he made a good point and the game clearly shows some signs of the system you mentioned but other mobile game are worse" that isnt an argument. He could have used effectivly every multiplayer mobile game from clash royale to rise of kingdoms. All of them employ predatory marketing techniques to bleed people dry
I agree, cause I am tired with all mobile online games especially Honkai Impact. I understand that people want and like to play those games, bur they must realize that EVERY online games have a server and a limited time such as time-event, offer limited to shutting down thr server of game. I have four games that have been closed, so I dont wanna play every online game again and stick with offline games and indie games.
I agree with this 100% and cannot understand why there are no real policing of these mobile games!??? I know for a fact but cannot prove (or have anybody to ask for help proving this, can't call the police like you would do if any other crime was happening to you) a mobile game I have been playing over six years changes drop rates on items as they see fit. This is false advertisement in any other business pretty much around the world I would think.?? False advertising is illegal and know for a fact some have been caught with no real consequence for doing it. We need laws and someone who goes into these gaming apps and makes sure devs are being honest & KEEPING them honest. It is literally the wild west for the mobile gaming industry with Google as their president.
@@fickdich564it’s not arguing against the OP; it’s adding to it lol, and that person isn’t wrong
“no u stoobid u hardly have an argument” is hardly an argument
Everyone, it is not spending money on the game, make u need to use your skill.
The issue is, taking Diablo Immortal as an example, when the game was launched, it received horrendous feedback due to their monetization and was slammed on Metacritic with the lowest user score ever for a game. Afterwhich tons of media coverage and TH-camrs taking about this and publications and forums were flooded with this topic. Fast forward to 2 months ago, Diablo Immortal still made 97million in August. The moral of the story is, players know what they are getting into and they still knowingly play the game. Due to this, the industry isn't going to change anytime soon I am afraid.
People wont for sure, it called addiction ! the government need to step in with regulations
@@WEEDH3X golden comment
@@WEEDH3X Yeap. Just make it so that these monetization practices are treated as gambling, and raise the rating to M. Their largest target demographic are teenagers. Taking that away should be a good blow.
@@WEEDH3X the government have benefits from those companies, like Drugs, Alcohol.
So they will do nothing for them if the companies is a source for The economic country, Like Football in Spain.
@@KingWolfdz The government receives absolutely nothing from game developers, aside from taxes. Which they probably get out of paying anyway.
I played Pokémon Unite for about 2-3 months. I won a lot of matches. I never paid a dime.
well it's not just about paying
you gotta have the skill too
exactly he is just a bad player and he is blaming the game, I have freaking 6-7 items at lvl 30 without spending a single penny. 7700$ my foot
And you are right i played it since day one
I am at level 43 with 2073 battles and 1609 won with 36 unite licence but never paid a single rupee
Thanks for the new perspective. I'll check out the game and see what I can do.
This video should’ve been primarily made on Diablo Immortal as a worst offender. As far as mobile games go, Unite isn’t “pay to win” by any stretch & it’s kinda crazy that you have that impression. All mobile games want your money, but you don’t need to spend a dime to do well in Unite
Finally someone reasonable
This guy just want attention lol pay2win on pokemon unite 😂 does skin adds a good irno site to hit those enemy up? 😂
Not even close.
Nah bro skins get wins, you have to drop $40 to swag out your main in order to win
It's just pay to speed up
Why is nobody talking about this problem ?
This is one of the biggest issues I've ever seen. I can't believe no government is putting a stop to this
Mrwhoistheboss - you're a hero! Please never stop telling the truth !
It's funny because a lot of these hideous tactics being abused so much it does not feel like a big issue as it should be to a lot of gamers nowadays. Thank you for spreading awareness about this
Just... FUNNY?
@@NxVernxual If you've been playing mobile games for long enough you will grow cynical about this these sorts of issues. It's kinda like how DLCs and microtransactions were normalized and people are essentially fine with games coming out uncompleted.
@@piro_ch you’re right, i play a couple of mobile games but luckily none are quite as bad as pokemon unite. But all of them have their own ways of trying to make you pay ridiculous amounts of money for small gains, which just goes to show how widespread the issue is but also how people don’t really mind anymore.
@Jack Wrath Bot..
@@piro_ch @Piro Hiponotic I've been playing games like Minecraft Pocket edition, Geometry dash and Fruit Ninja nearly for over than 10 years now or probably less, I've grown thought really weird nonsense and bigger issues than these would you think that may turn you "cynical". It's about this generation's games with the new ones like gacha, genish impact, call of duty and even PUBG that is going on the same road as Free Fire. As MrWhosetheboss said, they are intentionally programmed like this to make you feel better and addicted and continue playing "normally" as you would imagine. I'm saying you're right but the problem is so MUCH BIG to handle on so many different ways financially, economically and even morally not just on the side of the player but even on the government side that supports it with Google by not looking at scams or purchasements
I was literally hooked to marvel contest of champions for 7 years and honestly it cost me thousandsb and stressed me out so much. Many thanks for doing a video like this!
Bro I used to play that game I was gonna spend but my game stopped working so didnt glad to see you got out of it oo
Hello there, fellow summoner
I feel you
I ve played the same game for like 2 yrs.. But never spend a single cent
(one of the reasons being, my parents not allowin me to spend any😂)
I get you man
I used to be addicted to that game as well, but only for like an year. And I personally don't feel accomplishment from "buying" things in games; I like to grind. So I never spent any money, it was never even a thought. But it was a fun ride while it lasted.
I actually did my bachelor thesis on this exact same subject (dark patterns in gaming) and I can tell this is spot on! I was baffled by the lengths developers will go to, to make users spend more and more money.
You had a bachelor’s thesis?🤨Where tf they do that at😭😂🤦🏽♂️
Can you please share with my your findings, I am from South America and I am conducting a similar research.
@@luisvalencia7939 México, for example.
The first game he mentioned is not even pay to win and yall just eating it up😂
@@iso2885The game still forces you to pay alot of money in order to be successful at it, so it still belongs in the list of games trying to scam you.
As someone who just recently started picking up COD Mobile on PC (Emulator) I found that a great way to get validation without spending money is the Special camos, like either Gold, Platinum or Damascus, because those require skill and good gameplay to get.
Whats more depressing is the fact that genuine mobile games made with passion such as Angry Birds, Stardew Valley, and Jetpack Joyride no longer exist and get overshadowed by games that guilt trip you into spending tons of money. I'm glad lucky patcher and modded games exist. That should teach those money hungry companies a lesson
Edit: I didn't say Angry Birds is different now. I'm saying that mobile games are different now. You can't really find games like Angry Birds anymore. Just look at Rise of Kingdoms and other misleading games. They force you to spend money to progress
Edit2: I apologise for mispelling Jetpack Joyride as Jetpack Royale. It has been fixed now
@Marek Krajčovič i think they're aware that the games are still up, they're just saying that there aren't many mobile game developers nowadays that genuinely make games for people to just have fun with, and instead are mostly just money-hungry people and sometimes companies
Angry birds is not different right now
It isn't what it used to be
@Marek Krajčovič yea it's jetpack joyride and yea it is still running
I played pubg few years ago and it was really a good game
I mean, how are the employees behind the companies supposed to earn money if everything in their game is free
Let me make this clear, It isn’t hard to get item enhancers, in fact they kind of chuck em at you and super item enhancers bring your items instantly to level 30(btw, you get those for free just by playing). I’ve spent 0$ on this game and have every item at level 30, so there is NO NEED TO BUY ANYTHING. Plus, items are useful but they won’t actually completely change your chances of winning. Your probably just bad at the game (which is fine)
Fr. This guy made a whole video on how bad he is
And how much Time did you spend into the Game compared to a Whale ? Whale = one Week, you = a Month or more ? . Thats what's important and one of the messages of teh Video : Most of the People want to be on the same Level as others, in like notime. And thats acually ONLY possible with Money. Great Part of the Game Industry was richer then the Film Idustry ages before Lootboxes, DLC's and this SHit came up....and now they got greedy in all manner.
@@callyberx if you don't have patience and want to be the same level as everyone as once, don't play mobas. This is about pure skill, not money
@@jufref I dont play them, cause i dont support such Business Modells at all. I'm a old Gamer who experianced much better Times...No DLC's (With Content not woth the Money), No Lootboxes...No Part 1,2,3,4,5,6 of the same Game. They should take again just a Baseprice and a Monthly fee, like MMO's where in the Past (Everquest1+2 as example) maybe even for Expansions..if they add Content worth the Money. They make enough Money with the Modell, as said the Game-Industry was way Richer before this "greedness" of them started.
@@callyberx by "you" I wasn't talking about you specifically, I just meant in general
Wow I started this video thinking "Yeah I know these games are scammy and bad" but I never would've thought they're THIS bad and manipulative. Thank you for opening my eyes to this and spreading the message
Just letting you know Pokemon unite is not pay to win. Yes they are trying to make money, that is the entire reason why almost all games exist. The amount items do is not enough to deny you access to the highest rank. It is almost as easy to get to the highest rank with or without items. Most of the things you can buy are cosmetic, game has to make money some how. Pokemon unite has a extremely high skill cap and a really low skill floor. The Pokemon unite portion is fake to an extent. Yes they try and get more money out of you than you want but it's not even tempting if you realise that the game is skill based you aren't remotely tempted by the in app purchases.
@@brodyroberts5230 There are lot of game which you can enjoy without these riggied money minting system . Games that are make you relax is a real game for ex Minecraft, gta , terties. People who play Competitive games are not only gamers. Eg dream , technoblade are biggest names in the gaming industry and they do not play the shitty compative moblie games. they are lot of games which you can enjoy without compativiness . Sandbox games, Rpg games, p v e games these are types of games that you can enjoy
@@brodyroberts5230 I understand that they’re a company trying to make money. I think it’s more about how they’re trying to hide that fact by implementing different currencies etc to make it harder to see that. Keep in mind a large portion of players for most of these video games are kids, who probably aren’t as aware either
@@brodyroberts5230 you're right my dude
@@jeeva1 yes there are, but all games need money. A game can cost money initially like terraria, Minecraft ect or they can be free and have some in-game purchases. Pokemon unite is not perfect but it is better than all the other games mentioned in the vid. And by no means is it pay to win
One thing I do like at least about Fortnite is that paying more doesn’t affect players skill, it’s just skins
thank you for doing this! my daughter plays these kind of games and she always wants her allowance in some different game currency. and she's always like "I only have 6 minutes left to get this thing I've always wanted!" I'm going to have her watch this video hopefully it will open her eyes a bit. I always tell her it's a scam but she just doesn't get it.
Give her good ideas for things she could do with her allowance. DIY stuff, planning stuff with friends etc.
It has to be so tough. When I was a kid you just didn't care if it was a scam or not. You dont understand the true meaning and value of money at that age. You are hooked line and sinker. Have you showed her yet?
SHOW HER
Don't just give her an allowance directly because they won't appreciate it, you should make her earn her allowance through house chores etc so she can appreciate the value of money.
@@Miraclelnvoker you only know that she gets an allowance in some way
Finally, a TH-camr who doesn't sell out and doesn't shill for these scumbags
Um did u watch the last 2 minutes bro😂
@@hunnymanocha being sponsored by phone cases is different than being sponsored by (essentially) casinos masquerading as innocuous games
@@hunnymanocha That's sponsorship and what he was promoting was a legit useful product
Yeah, what a shame that he didnt actually do any research into the main game he talked about. He just pick and chose the bad bits.
Skill? I just run into enemies and die! That means I need to buy items.
Literally shown in the video...
@@Shikafau no this guy is fr, your still being controlled by the game devs
As a pokemon unite player myself I feel like there is one more thing. The fondness you have with the Pokémon, whether you see it in the anime or play it on one of the mainline games, the fact that you can play as your favourite Pokémon that you have so many fond memories with makes you go to any height to unlock it. That is why they are now releasing more popular Pokémon and having them behind a gem wall
Yes I'm a Pokémon Unite player too whenever they gonna released a new Pokémon they gonna lock it with a gem wall
i literally downloaded it and played until i got greninja and never touched it again 💀💀
That's just being stupid
I think unite is pretty good and loved the game, the only complaint I have is that new Pokémon are behind a pay wall for a week, coming from a 8month unite player
@@skoopmc9119 same, I've been playing PU from the next week it got released on Android and believe me, the game never felt more stressful and hard before. It brings us to a dark conclusion that with time, the developers do get greedy, very greedy.
one of the few perks of having Asperger's: not falling for any corporate marketing strategies
I remember a few years ago when Arun made video that had a sponsorship from a Mystery Box scam company I felt so disappointed because I genuinely loved his content and was a huge fan for years. I'm so glad to see him grow and learn to where he is today. Awesome content as always!
Could u mention which video it was? 😊
@@vaanivijay6552 the website was called MysteryBrand and a lot of other TH-cam channels had sponsorships from it at the time. I can't remember which video it was but I'm sure it's deleted after other TH-camrs exposed the website as a scam
@@DatzAdam ahh thank you very much
His name is Arun not aron lol
Arun definitely does a lot of good “exposé” content like this around scams/consumer issues for a while now, etc and that is what I’m here for (along with the insightful product reviews, I don’t really care for or click into the “I bought the worlds xyz tech” but others do and that’s fine).
But anyway glad he’s just using good sponsors like phone case companies or whatever, that has a simple transparent product we can choose to buy or not buy, but we aren’t being misled to buy into dodgy businesses.
I agree with the message behind the video, but touching on Unite, I've never spent a cent on unite ever, and looking at the footage and choices this guy has made in game, i can pretty confidently say that man is simply just bad at the game. The monetary issues that he talks about definitely exist, but this really wasnt the best game for showing an example. Just choose a game like Diablo Immortal where literally everybody already knows about how scummy it is. He even names it two seconds into the video.
-Edit: Breh like at --9:55--, my guy literally just walked towards death for no reason. Doesnt choose his level 4 move upgrade, doesnt stay in his goal zone for passive healing when he could just stay there and attack them being a god damn ranged attacker, clearly sees THREE enemy pokemon that can demolish his squishy healthbar in an instant, and just walks towards them.- Footage was not from his own gameplay, but still very much so misleading.
Exactly.
Yeah totally agree with you
Yup
Gamers making excuses for the people that are ripping them off. Smh.
THANKKKKKK YOUUUUUU
It was nice knowing you Arun, the gaming companies are already sending hitmen on your location for speaking truth
Lol he's a total nooob. I've been playing pokemon unite on the switch since season 1. I've got all my items at level 30 and I've never spent a single penny on the game. You really don't need to.
Like right now you can buy scizor with real money, but in a couple of days you can just get him with aeos coins so you don't even have to buy him at all. So yeah, Arun is a total noob. I hope I won't ever get him on my team ; -)
💀
Rip arun
Codm takes skill so you can not spend a dime and still be good
Especially genshin 💀
It is really difficult to find games on the iOS App Store that don’t do this. You need to make a video about games that don’t do this!
I am a Pokemon Unite player and the game IS about skill. There are different strategies when playing the game. Even if you are a starter you don’t need maxed out held items to “be good” at the game. My sister has no held items only basic things and she does GOOD. The reasons why most people spend money is for cosmetics which are optional things and don’t change the gameplay.
yeah his point was true but not in the case of pokemon unite. i only buy battle pass and nothing else. and its not even needed. you need skill like most moba games. Potion charizard with leftovers as a hold item is wild LOL
I’m sure if he did research, he wouldn’t have spent so much money on enhancers in the first place
It doesnt change the point. If you are a skilled and free to play player, you are simply a fuel for other people to spend more to be better than you, thus profit again.
@@MetehanG This argument made absolutely no f* sense lol
@@MetehanG u r blubbering utter rubbish
Ive been playing Pokemon Unite for over a year and have reached masters and high ranks in every season. I've never spent 760 dollars to upgrade any items and currently have almost every item at level 30. The game is very good at giving you free things if you just continue to play and get better.
So how much did you pay then?
Yeah, i too reached masters 1400 without paying a penny 👀
@@bangerxshane I put 20 bucks in when the game first came out because I wanted to support the game and thought the idea was great. Then used the money to get a skin which dosent impact the game at all
@@ReportMehow Are you "everyone" who plays the game? And did you just suggest every single player to "get better"? lmfao dude, not every finger on the hand is same.
@@ryannasir5081 no I’m saying you naturally get better at a game the more you play it. You can’t be good at anything immediately when you start something and it takes practice. Maybe instead of paying 300 bucks to try and win, try playing the game more and learning how to play it properly.
Honestly, Pokemon Unite is one of the more consumer friendly mobile games compared to most mobile games, considering you can obtain everything that is important for gameplay without spending anything, just by playing regularly for a few weeks. You can get a few max boosts easily but any more will cost you.
Teamwork is the most important thing in the game, if you try to go alone without your team like Arun did in this video you will get wrecked regardless. The most egregious thing in the game is the cosmetic stuff which takes the P but the bigger problem with the game is it is repetitive as f.
This video is going to hurt the game, quite unfortunate
That’s true. This game is mostly about teamwork. And also no need to spend real money unless you want skins
Don't play the game for 2 weeks and you get more money than you could while playing.
@Who's the Cuber yeah, dude even made samsung issue the most trending on Twitter with one video.
@@hellbusterdragon Who TF playing game 2week and forgetting work? No one.
Concept of game is just for fun or filling free time for fun.
In rise of the kingdom game, there are people who spend over $200,000 on my server and still lose to someone who spent more than him
A person in Saudi Arabia spent more than a BILLION $ on gems in Clash of Clans.
He stupid cause you probably only need like 100k to be maxed and it only takes around 2 years and 9 months to get to max th16 @@r.a.6459
I'm glad you are bringing awareness to this. The mobile game industry needs to be regulated for gambling.
The mobile game market has spread to many AAA titles and it's annoying. I'm extremely grateful for so many games I can play that do not have this mess and never will. Future mods that fix multiplayer games SBMM and added problems.
This isn’t gambling
@@epicawesomeguy3491 buying something for an expensive price and getting an unguaranteed result is not gambling? nice logic you got right there buddy
@Shmarky yes, its shows you, but that doesn't guarantee the outcome, lotteries are pretty much like that, you know what can go out but it won't guarantee that thing will come out
@Shmarky You clearly didn't watch the video. The whole thing is set up to lure you into thinking you're getting a guaranteed result, but you're really just gambling.
To be honest, this is the only reason why the huge companies are beginning to make mobile versions of their games.
it's a variation of the subscription model for streaming apps and sites
@@MrTaxiRob I believe this is way worse
Not entirely
It’s mostly due to the increase number of mobile players and time spent on mobile games.
People are playing more on mobile than they ever did on console and pc, so it’s only natural to have your IPs where players are.
Yes, it was design to get user to addicted. Just like gambling. This is why it's so destructive.
Dude I am really good doing good in this game...I am getting good ranks etc.....I have spent zero money on this game ....the statements of this vid are total misconception....this guy is just wrong about this game for no reason....he has not even played for a few mins .. doesn't even know anything about this game
Pokemon Unite: I've only spent money in consideration for the skins/holowears, not so much in upgrading item, earning tickets/coins, for someone who has been playing since its release, they have been more than enough. I agree though that the game seems to be overwhelming for those just starting one, you would have the feeling of being left behind.
True
Same with War Robots, great game but can get expensive trying to stay meta
I reached legend in a free to play. Yes, you must bleed 🩸 before reaching peak competitive.
I reached top 1k leaderboards in 2 weeks f2p. Hearing pokemon unite is not about skill and its just button mashing is absurd
@@mitachi9033 which game?
Another great example of why people need to be able to see downvots ngl. Yes the unite devs want our money, but calling it p2w after saying "all you have to do is just mash your skills on cooldown" is just character assassination. You get to make a statement on a grass roots game you don't play and because your channel has more subs/veiwers than everyone in the community this is what people are gonna see first. And again since there's no visable dislikes anymore pretty much all the average person needs to decide whether or not to play the game.
I commented similarly. I think our power in this is to not watch the video, dislike it, and comment how unethical he was to make a video about a game having not reached out to anyone in the community.
This video hits me SO hard.
Unfortunately, I have an addictive personality and I'm extremely impatient and simply cannot abide grinding for something unless there is immediate rewards. What I'm saying is, I need to be the strongest player, but I don't have the patience to grind my way to the top.
About 10 years ago, I fell into an MMO (I honestly can't remember the name). The first "mission" (tutorial) gave me a taste of what was to come and the second mission made it seem like I should be able to take down these monsters easily! In the 3rd mission, I got my ass kicked and went back to the character page with my tail betwixt my legs. I tried everything I could to get strong enough without money but, in the long run, I knew my toon would be a weakling without spending a little money..
At that time, I had just opened a company that had an incredibly successful launch and, if projections were correct, I expected a very strong trend for several months. In other words, I had (what seemed to me to be) a ridiculous amount of disposable income! I decided I was going to pay to win! I bought the best armor and the highest ranking spells (I was a sorcerer). I then tried a daily group mission and realized there were toons stronger than I was! Back to the store! I purchased multiple pieces of armor so I could meld them and get a higher level armor. I purchased multiple spells and combined them to make stronger spells. With my new "disposable" income, I became one of the top 5 players on my server within just a month of playing. I was the guy everyone wanted on their team. I was the guy people begged to join the server-wide attack on the incredibly high ranking beastie. Everyone on my server knew who I was and I was loving it! Any time I found my toon not up to a task, I headed back to the store to buy whatever I could to increase my stats.
After about 2 months, Jackie (the person I had hired as the bookkeeper for the company) approached me. It seems she was confused about numerous charges, to some company that didn't match any of our suppliers. I told her "Yeah, I know it's stupid but I've been playing this game and I've spent a little money on it. Just take it out of my next couple of checks". When she told me I wouldn't be getting a paycheck for the next 4 months, that got my attention.
Jackie showed me list of charges ranging from $10 to $100. I thought I had spent around 4 or 5 thousand dollars but, in light of my new income, I wasn't worried about it. Jackie literally laughed in my face when she heard me say $5k. She then handed me a sheet of paper of charges, filling the entire page. I focused on the bold number circled in red at the bottom right of the sheet and was dumbfounded by the number printed there. $12,470!
Yes. I spent $12,000 on a stupid fucking online game in about 2 months! Lemme say that again. I FUCKING SPENT TWELVE THOUSAND DOLLARS ON AN ONLINE GAME...IN TWO MONTHS!
Yes. I know. I'm an idiot.
I'm not an idiot because I spent the money. I'm an idiot because I didn't see the flaw in the "pay to win" mentality until I had already lost my mind. Unless I had literally a limitless fortune, there would always be someone willing to spend more money to be better than me. It's crazy how quickly $10-$100 charges will accrue!
So, realizing my addiction had blown past the "unmanageable" phase and was firmly in the "idiots do this" realm, I contacted a friend from that game and literally gave them my character and walked away from that game, and those like it, forever.
Be careful about the "store" page of these games! It's way easy to justify one payment, but after you've paid once, you feel obliged to do it again because you're already invested. Then when you find something you can't do because you're one level short, it's way too easy to simply pay for that upgrade. Now that you've paid for that upgrade, it doesn't make sense to stop now or you've wasted all that money! So you buy more. And more. And more.
I know many people can see through the scam and just play the game without paying for anything, but those games wouldn't exist if there wasn't plenty of people willing to spend their hard earned money on intangible, digital merchandise. One purchase is all it takes to start the cycle. If you're able to resist, great! For those with addictive personalities, like myself, it's probably best to stay away from these kinds of games.
Damn
Man...12,000?!!
I’m so sorry about you man… I read your entire thing and all I can say is that it is unbelievably easy for these companies to trick you. Remember my words : F2P FOR THE WIN, BABYYY !!!
I remember when we were all clamouring for the removal of loot boxes and we were happy when we started seeing them be removed from games or new games not having them but it turns out all that was is that they found a better method to scam people.
@@TheAkashicTraveller trust me, they will ALWAYS find a way... and they found it after all. Battle Passes are the new scam method and they should be stopped ASAP.
It would have been hilarious if in the middle of this video, "But first, thanks to this videos sponsor, RAID Shadow Legends!" 🤣
🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Tru
I always wanted to say:
"Whoever's editing these Videos is a GENIUS, I swear!"
I can agree with you on any other mobile game, but not unite. This game requires skill to play. I know many people, IRL and online (including myself), who have not spent any money on the game, but still have very high rankings. I agree that you can progress faster by paying money, but money can't buy skill. This video is just misleading at this point.
Lmaooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Power to you for exposing this insidious industry, unlike most TH-camrs who seem to be happy to just take the Raid Shadow Legends advertorial money.
Exactly.
@Jack Wrath Nobody cares about you Mr. Bot because your content is trash! Cry about it. 😂👌
@Jack Wrath it sucks
@@unknownuser8836 bro dont u understand its a bot why would u watch its video ignore these type of comments
He didn't rely expose anything, any1 that has even surface level knowledge knows this goes on in both mobile and AAA games
the level 30 held items isn't a limited time thing and is accessible to all players and is permanent and it has been in the game since the day that the game came to mobile
In World of Tanks Blitz, you get deals for tanks saying 10000 gold with original price being 30k gold. In fact, they completely made up the 30k gold because those tanks are only sold in those deals, auctioned out once per year or sold in crates (anywhere from 1500 to 5000 gold per crate) with drop chances anywhere from 0.04% to 2%. It costs $100 to get about 75k gold in the x2 gold bundle.
When I was younger I got heavily addicted to in-app purchases. Until I counted up how much I actually spent... This was super helpful!
How much ?
Your parent's gave you money to spend? Or you made money yourself?
@@Abu_TuesdayI’m guessing she had Apple Pay or something and she bought stuff using parents money connected to Apple Pay without knowing it was real money
@@orkhepaj he spent 10000000000000000000$
I really wanted to get Minecraft on my phone years ago, but I realized that you have to be a banking expert to purchase this as you have to know the method of spending real digital money...
Well, I get your point and the concepts you mentioned are correct. However as a pokemon Unite player myself. there are ways to win and even rank to master class. You must focus on picking your role, adapting in-game, and choosing a few pokemon to master. yeah, held Items are hard to level up so choose your main pokemon wisely; something you want to play all throughout your journey every season. And there are Aeos ticket's to convert to item enhancers. Also, it's easier to win with friends since you have more coordination. Overall, the gaming industry is leaning towards f2p with in-game micro-transactions but it does necessarily mean less-skill-based they are now.
if you hard, then you hard 💯
I have never spent money on this game. I just had to watch some tutorials because explains quite a few things poorly
@@proxtreme97 I didn't even watch tutorials and I understood everything
That's what they want to you to think.
@@chitosesenri7087 literally all u have to spend money on is skins and that doesnt change very much, the game is either luck or skill based
Game companies being able to convince players that virtual money is more worthy than real money is scary!!
dude he got the information wrong, the items of pokemon unite is irrelevant, he is just bad at the game sorry.
@@catoblepas8697Could be, but think of this. Many of the people playing these games are children or teenagers. The pressure and want of the in-game rewards is more than enough to get kids to spend money to "earn" them. If most people were so good at the game that they don't need it, this game would not be so popular and wouldn't be advertised as much.
There are a lot of p2w games, and PU is not one of them 🤣
@@SquirrelTheorist The game wouldn't be popular if people were good at it?
@@SquirrelTheorist Yes but create a video for shit talking a game and dont even try to research the game is just horrible. He just the real Scam in the video.
That whole "sense of accomplishment" thing from assembling your Ikea furniture isn't really a thing in America because you have to assemble anything (furniture) you buy from Walmart, Amazon, Best Buy, Ebay, Kmart, Office Max, Big Lots etc..
I have been addicted to quite a few online mobile games over the course of a couple years but never spent a single penny on any of them even though they tried their hardest. I made it my sole mission to be better than as many players as possible, even whales, without paying. Just to assert dominance. The satisfaction of being better than players who are spending real money is the best. Paying money takes the all the fun away.
Same
I don’t
Delete me reply
@@bobbywdtuinvbnonbnooybbohx407 Girl delete it yourself.
@@dead_account111I would be the same but mobile legends skin is just so worth it that it force me to get it yes it not p2w only skins for cool looking
Taking shots at some pretty big names here. Excellent job on showing them up for who they are as companies. Love this channel.
1st on a 160 liked comment
Except he picked the wrong game for the topic. Pokemon Unite is anything but p2w. All the resources he mentioned, save the gems, are obtainable in the game completely for free. Of course you can purchase those resources with gems, but you dont have to. Paying doesnt affect matchmaking at all, by watching his footages I can conclude this boy just sucks hard at this game
@@ibnu9969 Whale spotted
@@ibnu9969 Its all a gradient of PTW. They don't make these games just for the experience. Their main priority is to make money. How effectively they disguise that determines their success.
@@Stealther no shit sherlock I thought this was a charity OF COURSE they need to make money somehow. Look, I completely agree with his arguments, except he chose the wrong game to be the main subject of the discussion. If it were ANY other moba games I will 100% agree with him. There is no paid gacha element in Unite, you can obtain Aeos energy to use the gacha FOR FREE. There's no such thing as paying customers getting better matchmaking, me for example still getting vegetables as my teammates despite me buying the season pass. This boy just lack the knowledge and the skill at the game, but he's good at spinning his skill issue into an interesting content
This man is literally the king of TH-cam. His content was good enough, man now is literally saving our lives. He isn’t one of those out of touch people, this is his second video addressing relatable and big problems for us people. Thanks Arun, you’re a Top G
super hyperbole , unless you are a child a 100 dollars would hurt but it wouldn't be anything major if you learnt your lesson , might just be me who was f2p on a really p2w mmo for 3-4 years as a kid and now prefers not to pay for anything since all these tactics aren't new (limited time in cash shop item or whatever)
@@linkedlord5449 yeah and also i literally dont want to spend a dollar because i have only 100 euros and thats a lot
@@linkedlord5449 It really depends on the person. For a middle class american/british/german or any person from a wealthy country, 100 dollars might not seem much, but for people in poorer countries, its very much
My God. Stop being such disgusting fanboys. Yeah the video is fine but many have exposed this shit thousands of times already. Anyone who knows anything about gaming knows mobile games are mostly just glorified casino apps to get money out of you.
@@linkedlord5449 shut up
When I got thrown in with real players, I had a consistent 20+ kills with Dicidueye. All while having the default held items like leftovers. I had a problem when this guy says it's not about skill when the dude is literally fighting 3 enemies in THEIR zone as a b-roll example. If he's saying that everyone will win this game through pay per win, then it would show. In reality, this guy pays money for overpowered held items, does dumb decisions in-game, and manages to lose, resulting him in complaining that it's still paid-to-win. Bro, it's your skills in the game, held items only help so much.
Ikr the held items don’t give you a 15% boost, and they give you free level 30s. If you’re gonna buy held items, level 20 is all you need.
Thanks for covering this, this is getting so outta hand right now. Gaming is now just another way of looting people by their own will
@bluehawk56 wtf, why?
@bluehawk56 i love gaming and it's a huge part of my life, I used to think of it as a distraction but now I'm starting to see it as it is. Something i enjoy and something i live for. Basically don't try to escape life try to find things to live for
Please don't use the word gaming the way u are, it feels like u are lumping every single game together when it simply isnt true
@bluehawk56 no, why?