Maybe publicly posting a microtransaction/e-commerce manager is the new way to generate tons of publicity and hype for your business.  At the same time, dedicated fans of your biggest product tend to get a little jumpy.  A catch-22?

If this is the case, then Turbine has managed to accomplish it’s goals, and then some.  As previously reported Turbine is in fact looking for a microtransaction/e-commerce manager, and let the speculation train leave the station.  It seems as though hundreds of fans of Turbine’s successful Lord of the Rings Online game feared that microtransactions would be applied to this title, thereby igniting some truly ridiculous forum posts, to those that support the growing trend in gaming.

And while Turbine didn’t exactly nip the discussion in the bud, they did acquiesce to public pressure and wild speculation, by revealing that they are in fact working on a new title that will be microtransaction based.

“We know the recent job listing has caused a bit of a stir, but please be aware that this posting is for an unannounced future project,” says Sapience, a Turbine Online Community Specialist.

While this announcement alone is not earth shattering, it does put another brick into the Western market acceptance of microtransactions in the wall.  We’ve now got EA working on Battlefield Heroes (ok, let’s put the delays aside), SOE with free realms, Nexon’s Combat Arms is moving right along, and now Turbine has officially confirmed their development of a microtransaction based title.  Heck, even the stronghold of all things subscription, Blizzard is offering paid character customization, a microtransaction in it’s own right.  The winds of change are hard to ignore, and they seem to just keep gathering steam.

We’re obviously watching Turbine with an eagle eye now, and will keep you up to date with any further developments.

Tags: Blizzard, combat arms, lord of the rings online, lord of the rings online game, microtransaction, Nexon, Sapience, soe, Turbine

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 8th, 2009 at 3:43 pm and is filed under industry news. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.