These games aren't afraid to take as much money as you'll give them. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we’re counting down our picks for the Top 20 most egregious pay-to-win games ever.
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00:00 Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the Top 20 Egregious P2W
00:14 Games Ever!
00:22 Number 20 Warframe We'd like to preface this by saying that
00:35 Warframe is by no means a horrible game.
00:39 On the contrary, it's quite exhilarating.
00:42 Thing is that each Warframe you acquire requires certain materials to build, and some of those
00:47 materials either have really low spawn rates or are buried deep into later missions.
00:53 So you're kinda forced to grind for dozens upon dozens of hours to get the Warframe you
00:59 want for free or pony up the ducats.
01:07 It is not horrendous enough to keep you from enjoying the game, yet it is kind of shady
01:11 monetization.
01:13 At least buying the Warframe isn't as expensive as some of the other games we'll be getting
01:17 to.
01:24 Number 19 Mario Kart Tour Mario Kart Tour was all kinds of offensively
01:36 greedy from start to finish.
01:38 What else would you expect from a gacha game?
01:41 Really?
01:42 Drivers, karts, and gliders could give players an advantage on particular courses, and such
01:46 drivers, karts, and gliders were often locked behind the paywall.
01:50 Whether it was through seasonal passes that demand you grind for these unlockables or
01:55 flat out inflation prices in the shop, Mario Kart Tour made it clear that it was here for
01:59 one thing and one thing only, your money.
02:09 It didn't help that shooting the pipe often resulted in duplicate items regardless if
02:14 the pipe was green, gold, red, blue, turquoise, burgundy, redwood, or septic tank.
02:26 Number 18 Star Wars Battlefront 2 We will give EA and DICE credit where it's
02:38 due.
02:39 Battlefront 2 did turn things around with a reworked star card system, reworked progression,
02:44 and the addition of free expansions.
02:46 However, no one can forget the early days when star cards, which could power up your
02:51 characters abilities, were locked behind grinding and loot boxes.
03:01 Players quickly figured out how Battlefront 2 was really pay to win when EA offered players
03:06 to pay for loot boxes instead of grinding to unlock them.
03:09 Honestly, it makes us glad the publisher has made such a drastic shift back to single player
03:14 games, but why do we still not have the pink Darth Vader?
03:24 Number 17 Marvel Snap Marvel Snap is in the same boat as Warframe.
03:36 It's a fantastic game that is, unfortunately, pay to win.
03:40 The difference between them is that Marvel Snap is pay to win by design.
03:45 New cards are constantly getting locked behind paywalls.
03:55 Need the new card?
03:56 You have three options.
03:57 A. Pay the 10 bucks for the season pass and grind for the next few weeks.
04:02 B. Grind the crap out of the game and hope your loot boxes give you collector's token,
04:08 the rarest currency in the game.
04:10 Or C. Hope that card gets one of the many overpriced bundles that are shoved in your
04:15 face every time you open the store.
04:18 May God have mercy if one of the new cards breaks the game and births a whole new meta.
04:29 Number 16 MapleStory
04:39 Unlike most of the games we'll be going over beyond this point, we'll give MapleStory
04:43 the recognition of at least being honest.
04:46 Selling XP boosters can be pretty scummy in many scenarios, and here it is almost just
04:51 as scummy.
05:00 Wells can quickly dump hundreds of dollars and be comically overpowered in a matter of
05:04 minutes just by buying these boosters.
05:07 If you don't care about PvP crap though, you can avoid this part of the player base
05:12 easily.
05:13 So, that's why we're not giving MapleStory too much flack.
05:17 It sucks, but it's avoidable.
05:27 Number 15 Neverwinter
05:37 Just like Marvel Snap, Marvel Winter is basically pay to win by design.
05:42 Once again, this is a great game and all, and we can be thankful that the pay to win
05:47 aspect is not in the most malicious method possible.
05:50 However, this is another case of forcing players to buy boosters in order to properly keep
05:55 up with the game's scale of difficulty.
06:02 Either open your wallets or get ready for a grind session.
06:06 If you have the time to spare and want to grind, have at it, but don't be surprised
06:12 if your drive starts to diminish.
06:23 Number 14 Clash Royale
06:32 Clash of Clans was already shady with how it made progression painful in later levels,
06:37 so how bad is this spin-off?
06:40 Really bad.
06:41 Arguably worse even.
06:42 In June 2023, Clash Royale saw a major update that introduced card evolutions.
06:51 Use shards to unlock powerful versions of certain cards.
06:55 How does one acquire these shards you ask?
06:58 Well, with guap, ducats, cheese, fettuccine, spinach, big racks, stacks on deck, bands
07:04 on top of bands.
07:06 No matter how you say it, in order to get these shards, you're going to need money.
07:11 Couple this with obscene amounts of gold needed to upgrade cards to level 15, and you have
07:17 a game that does not value your time.
07:22 Number 13 FIFA Series
07:30 When looking at console and PC games shoehorning microtransactions and loot boxes, many point
07:35 the blame to this football series of games.
07:38 For years, the FIFA series would try to entice players to buy loot boxes in order to earn
07:43 their favorite players, or players that may have better stats than their current teams.
07:49 Of course, this carried into the online portion of the game.
07:57 It isn't a real game unless it's pitting wells against those with less disposable income.
08:03 Thus, much of the gaming media and community ignore this sector most of the time.
08:13 Number 12 Angry Birds Go
08:23 Rovio has certainly fallen by the wayside in how it had turned the classic Angry Birds
08:27 games into pay to win schemes.
08:30 Case in point, the kart racing spin-off, Angry Birds Go.
08:41 Whereas Mario Kart Tour requested payment for season passes and maybe 20 bucks or so
08:46 for some outrageous bundle, Angry Birds Go will charge you 60, 70, sometimes 120 dollars
08:55 just for a kart.
08:57 And yes, karts do matter as they can determine whether you hold a candle to rival races.
09:02 60 to 120 smackeroos for a kart.
09:07 Let that sink in.
09:15 Number 11 Ace Combat Infinity
09:25 After spending some time with Ace Combat Infinity, you would think the game desperately does
09:29 not want you to play the game.
09:31 Many players have reported how money hungry the game gets, locking missions behind obscenely
09:36 high levels, and making every moment of play cost a limited resource.
09:49 It doesn't matter if you wish to do a single player mission or play online against others.
09:53 If you don't have fuel, you don't get to play.
09:57 Good thing uninstall is just two taps away, which takes less time to execute than figuring
10:02 out where everything is.
10:10 Number 10 Counter Strike Nexon Zombies aka Counter Strike Nexon Studio
10:23 Why Counter Strike was enlisted in a pay to win scheme we will never understand and we
10:27 aren't going to try.
10:29 CSN was obnoxiously greedy and the burn was worse given the abysmal state the game launched
10:35 in.
10:44 Not only was it an incredibly buggy mess, but it also made starter weapons extremely
10:50 weak.
10:51 Weaker than a peashooter.
10:52 Looking for the real potato cannons?
10:54 Well, what's your credit card number?
10:56 Even under the new studio brand, CSN still features a ridiculous pay to win model that
11:02 is still garnering negative reviews for the game today.
11:12 Number 9 NBA 2K18 Though some players play the "well actually"
11:24 card at launch, there is no hiding it.
11:27 NBA 2K18 was and still is pay to win.
11:31 See MapleStory at least sections off the PvP.
11:35 Wanna play some basketball with friendly randos online?
11:38 Prepare to be annihilated because if you didn't pay up to get beyond level 80 or 90, the grind
11:44 was going to be more painful than it already was.
11:55 Pay to accelerate is still pay to win guys.
11:59 When it's at this scale for a game that costs $60, folks aren't going to have it
12:04 regardless of what you prefer to call it.
12:11 Number 8 The Simpsons Tapped Out EA was getting really dirty with mobile
12:22 gaming back in the day and The Simpsons Tapped Out was not afraid to demand your dollars.
12:27 It starts out simple.
12:29 Have characters perform tasks to rack up currency, which you can use to buy more buildings, some
12:34 of which may unlock a new character to help you earn more money.
12:38 Problem is that the buildings you can get through natural gameplay eventually give menial
12:42 payouts.
12:48 To make any real progress, you need to dump money into enough premium currency so you
12:53 can nab higher end buildings with bigger payouts.
12:57 Still feel like dumping $20 into a bowling alley for Barney?
13:00 Yeah, we didn't think so.
13:06 Number 7 Metal Gear Survived It was bad enough that Konami was jumping
13:20 aboard the awful business bandwagon that was demanding constant internet connection from
13:24 players for access to a game.
13:26 How could they possibly make this any worse?
13:30 Micro transactions?
13:37 Nope.
13:39 How would you feel if you paid $60 for a game only to be asked for more money just for save
13:44 files?
13:45 Oh, and are you feeling like you're grinding too much for resources?
13:50 Well, why not buy some survive coins so you can purchase boosters?
13:54 No thanks.
13:55 Can we like a full refund of the game please?
14:05 Number 6 Marvel's Avengers An Avengers game made by Square Enix should
14:19 have been easy money.
14:21 Alas, the more we heard about Marvel Avengers, the worse it became.
14:25 First it was a live service, then there was talk of gear and loot, then the power levels
14:31 crept in.
14:32 Before we knew it, we were being told to grind our heroes power levels or pay for freaking
14:37 boosters.
14:45 This alienated so many players that few bothered to go beyond the first hour of the game.
14:50 Now look where we are.
14:51 Square, the live service, is now a dead and delisted game generating no revenue of any
14:57 kind.
15:01 Number 5 Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 On the surface, Modern Warfare 2 doesn't
15:12 seem as pay to win as the other entries.
15:14 Besides, most of the paid stuff is cosmetics and operators right?
15:19 Not just operators and cosmetics, no.
15:22 You can straight up pay to unlock weapons, weapon blueprints, and even tactical pets
15:27 to give you an extra buff in the fight.
15:38 Need the proof?
15:39 Well, that Doom super shotgun seems to be offing dudes in one or two shots from a fairly
15:45 comfortable distance, wouldn't you say?
15:48 Modern Warfare 2 was fine for a while, but man, it has declined in keeping things fair.
16:04 Number 4 Candy Crush Saga We ain't done with Activision Blizzard King
16:15 yet.
16:16 Candy Crush Saga, as popular as it supposedly is, is amongst the most money hungry mobile
16:22 games on the market.
16:23 Sure, it looks innocent with its bright colors and cartoon characters, but once you get past
16:28 the first dozen or so levels, everything comes down to luck.
16:37 Your moves become more limiting and you're expected to meet goals at the mercy of whatever
16:42 random candy drops on the board.
16:44 All of a sudden, the story is "aww, such a shame.
16:48 If you've had this power up that cost a couple of bucks, maybe you can get through the rest
16:52 of this level."
16:53 In other words, it's forcing impossible goals on you just so it can sell the solution.
17:03 Number 3 Final Fantasy All the Bravest
17:13 Speaking of games that force problems to sell the solution, All the Bravest is unbashedly
17:18 greedy.
17:19 It is so easy to be sold on the idea of building your ultimate team of Final Fantasy characters
17:24 until you see how much of this game is one obnoxious price tag.
17:31 "Oh, you eyeing this character?
17:37 Pay a buck for a chance to get them.
17:39 Oh, they suddenly died in battle?
17:41 Well, pay us another buck to revive them instantly or wait 3 minutes.
17:46 Oh, you choose to wait it out and another character died in the process?
17:51 Well, wait until your first character who died is revived and then pay us or wait for
17:56 one who just died to revive."
17:59 See how this game is just constantly demanding money?
18:07 Number 2 Diablo Immortal Activision Blizzard King gets the slimy silver
18:20 medal for greed for this travesty.
18:22 We remember the outrage that occurred on launch day.
18:25 Players were crowning about how fun and addictive Diablo Immortal was right before they realized
18:30 how very pay to win the game was.
18:32 Unless you wanted your butt handed to you on a silver platter, your only way to enjoy
18:37 the game was to either avoid PVP altogether or cough up the dough and buy some absurdly
18:43 powerful gear.
18:53 The power grinding got equally egregious in the regular gameplay later on.
18:58 Yet, so many YouTubers and streamers decided to spend their dollars to prove the pay to
19:03 win theory right.
19:05 Just content, ain't that funny?
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19:32 Number 1, Dungeon Keeper.
19:40 Even after experiencing all of these awful, greedy games, none have come close to the
19:44 same level of sleaze as Dungeon Keeper.
19:47 For those who may not remember or were not around at the time, Dungeon Keeper had players
19:53 build their own devious dungeons and command minions to gather resources.
19:58 One catch though, cooldowns.
20:09 Whether you wanted to expand your dungeon by one tile or saw a rare resource, you were
20:14 forced to wait an exorbitant amount of time.
20:17 Of course, you could always fork over your cold hard cash.
20:21 Here's hoping EA has put those dark days behind them for good.
20:34 What game do you think was the worst when it came to pay to win mechanics?
20:38 Did it make our list?
20:39 Let us know down in the comments, in a civil manner, below.
20:51 In the mood for more awesome gaming content?
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21:01 Peace!
21:08 (upbeat music)