Although Oblivion’s Horse Armor Pack DLC was released 15 years ago, the microtransaction-filled business is still being blamed on it. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion’s famed horse armour DLC has been referenced in a recent joke, reawakening memories for some fans. Oblivion’s Horse Armor Pack, which was released in 2006, is often cited by current players as the catalyst for the widespread use of microtransactions and, as a result, the proliferation of incomplete games.
In the year 2021, microtransactions have become a substantial source of revenue for a large number of game development companies. Microtransactions have become so prevalent and influential in various games that some governments have started to establish microtransaction regulations governing in-game purchases. Microtransactions, on the other hand, were still a relatively new idea in 2006, so there was plenty of potential for experimentation. Even though it wasn’t the first, Bethesda developed what would later be recognised as a microtransaction but was simply referred to as “poor DLC” by many gamers.
The Horse Armor Pack from Oblivion was recently revisited by a Reddit user just hest in the form of a meme. “Trends of incomplete games may be related to one horse DLC,” the image says, continuing the argument against downloadable content. Oblivion Horse Armor Pack has become a hot topic since microtransactions become commonplace, and many of the people who commented on just hest’s post had the same feelings about the issue.
The Day-One DLC for Mass Effect 3 was also mentioned as an early example of microtransactions in the comments. For the past fifteen years, news of new content for a game has stoked hostility and suspicion among fans. This is especially true when the news comes out before the game is even released. In other circumstances, the absence of microtransactions in a AAA game has grown more notable.
Even if Oblivion’s Horse Armor Pack may have contributed to the rise of microtransactions, it doesn’t seem fair to blame it for the entire trend entirely. Marvel’s Avengers’ microtransactions, which have since been removed following a reaction from gamers, were the only microtransactions in this DLC. Even yet, the fact that Oblivion’s DLC arrived so quickly after the game’s initial release is worth noting. We, unfortunately, don’t expect the industry’s problems to disappear soon, so gamers can continue to blame the “scape-horse.”
