Throughout the last two years the revenues from in-game transactions in video-games have increased due to its growing presence both in traditional retail games as well as digital due to the fact that more and more games have become free. This growing presence is the basis for answering the question of what motivates players to spend money on in-game purchases in freeto-play games. The research found that having a well designed game is a very important factor that makes players purchase content. Many respondents made purchases based on emotional reasons such as wanting to look cool. People also made purchases to avoid grinding and to gain competitive advantages. In summary people think that their purchases were justifiable since the games are free but the common consensus is that while cosmetic items are acceptable, pay-towin items which provide a competitive advantage are not.

Under de senaste tio åren har spelföretag hittat nya sätt att tjäna pengar på spel, såsom att stycka upp dem och sälja innehållet genom flera mindre transaktioner, så kallade mikrotransaktioner, via olika affärsmodeller. Tidigare var det vanligast med fullprisspel, eller premiumspel som de också kallas. Det har också blivit vanligt med motsatsen till sådana spel. Dessa kallas freemium-spel och är gratis att spela eller åtminstone att börja spela. Freemium-spel har blivit den typ av produkt som genererar mest i intäkter av alla affärsmodeller globalt. År 2012 var sådana affärsmodeller bland de minst inkomstbringande. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka gamers upplevelser av mikrotransaktioner i spel, och därtill att undersöka vad som får dem att göra eller undvika sådana transaktioner. Studien är baserad på fem kvalitativa, semi-strukturerade intervjuer som har gjorts både genom fysiska samtal, röstchatt och vanlig chatt. Studien visar att den enskilt viktigaste faktorn i respondenternas beslut att köpa nedladdningsbart innehåll, däribland genom mikrotransaktioner, avgörs av rent sociala aspekter. Finns inte möjligheten att dela en spelupplevelse med andra människor blir alla former av nedladdningsbart innehåll betydligt mindre intressant för respondenterna. De flesta av respondenterna i denna studie berördes inte nämnvärt av kontakten med mikrotransaktioner såtillvida att de inte tvingades att betala för innehåll genom dem. Om majoriteten av respondenterna fick välja hade de helst sluppit alla former av mikrotransaktioner och i stället köpt spel där allt innehåll ingår från start. Denna rapports angreppssätt är dock explorativt och dess konklusion är således inte en slutgiltig sådan, utan resultatet från undersökningen i rapporten är menat att lägga en grund för vidare forskning inom problemområdet. / Over the past ten years, gaming companies have found new ways of making money from games, such as by cutting them up and selling the content through several smaller transactions, known as microtransactions, through various business models. Previously, it was most common with full-price games, or premium games as they are also called. It has also become common with the opposite form of such games. These are called freemium games and are free to play or at least start playing. Freemium games have become the type of product that generates the most in revenue of all business models globally. In 2012, such business models were among the least income-generating. The purpose of this study is to investigate respondents' experiences of microtransactions in games, and also to investigate what causes them to buy or avoid such transactions. The study is based on five qualitative, semi-structured interviews that have been done both through physical conversations, voice chat and regular chat. The study shows that the single most important factor for the respondents when deciding to buy downloadable content, including through microtransactions, is determined by social aspects. If the possibility of sharing a gaming experience with other people is not available, all forms of downloadable content will be considerably less interesting for the respondents. Most of the respondents in this study were not significantly affected by the contact with microtransactions as long as they were not forced to pay for content through them. If the majority of the respondents had to choose, they would have preferred to avoid all forms of microtransactions and instead buy games where all content is included from the start. However, the approach of this report is explorative and its conclusion is therefore not a definitive one. Instead, the result of the study in this report is intended to lay the groundwork for further research within the problem area.

Background: P2W games (Pay-to-Win) occupy a significant position in the Chinese gaming market, attracting a large number of players to participate and spend money. However, there is still a knowledge gap in understanding the motivational factors behind the behavior and psychology of Chinese players in terms of their purchase motivation in specific games Diablo: Immortal. Purpose: The objective of this study is to use the TCV framework to explore in depth the purchase motivations of Chinese players in the P2W game Diablo Immortal and to find out what factors have the greatest impact on the purchase of virtual items within this game. Method: In the method section, the article uses a qualitative research method to conduct semi-structured interviews. Convenience sampling and snowball sampling were conducted through friends close to the author, and 8 respondents were selected who met the research criteria. After data collection, a thematic analysis approach was used to analyze the data.  Conclusion: This study reveals that Chinese players in the P2W game Diablo: Immortal are motivated to purchase virtual items based on five key themes: functional value, social value, emotional value, conditional value, and monetary value. Among these, social value emerges as the strongest motivator, followed closely by conditional value, emotional value, functional value, and monetary value. The findings highlight the importance of enhancing the social aspects of the game, such as fostering player interactions and creating a sense of community. Additionally, developers should consider offering attractive discounts and promotions to stimulate player buying behavior. These insights provide valuable guidance for game developers and operators seeking to understand and cater to the motivations of Chinese players in the context of virtual item purchases.

Spelbranschen har genomgått en övergång från engångskostnader för spel till en modell med gratisspel där mikrotransaktioner blivit spelföretagens inkomstkälla. Denna förändring har ökat tillgängligheten för spelare men även väckt en oro för potentiella skador hos dessa, särskilt med likheter på hur loot boxes kan länkas till hasardspel och spelberoende. Denna studie har provat ett flertal teman som identifierats av Gibson m.fl. (2023) i deras studie i vad spelare själva tycker om mikrotransaktioner. Resultatet visar att deltagarna i denna studie har samma svar som de deltagare i Gibson m.fl. (2023) studie, även i deltagarnas egna öppna svar. Detta leder till en större förståelse som kan användas för en reglering i framtiden men ytterligare forskning som kan vara relevant är att få ytterligare synvinklar från föräldrar till minderåriga spelare som använt sig av köp i spel. Dels för att skapa en dialog mellan föräldrar och barn gällande mikrotransaktioner och dess påverkan men även för att ge de unga spelarna mer information för att kunna ta bra beslut gällande dessa i framtiden.

In recent years, microtransactions have become a norm for monetization and a standardbusiness model in free-to-play games. This is something that affects multiple individuals andhas caused quite a stir among players. Through this research, we want to gain anunderstanding of why some microtransaction types might be considered more acceptable thanothers. In addition, to gaining potential data that could possibly give us a look into the futureof the design of microtransactions. We have gathered our data by conducting online chatbased semi-structured interviews with current and former university students studying gamedesign at Uppsala University.The research found that game design students have a predominantly negative opinion aboutmost microtransactions, especially when they were affecting the gameplay, contrary to whenthey were not.