Absolutely not, because it isn't as simple as "Buy the cheaper version with ads if you don't want to pay full price/can't afford to." It sets a precedent, and we can see the effects in the streaming industry.
What used to be one subscription price has now turned into multiple tiers with half of them being subscriptions with ads, and more streaming services are picking up this model every year. The problem is that this gives them the perfect fallback when people complain about price hikes, which they've been doing a lot of in the past few years. "If you don't want to pay an additional $8 a month, just get the cheaper ad supported tier." which poses as a reasonable alternative but in reality only serves to hand wave away customers upset with their business practices. You have an alternative, you don't need to continue paying for your subscription that just went up in price, but you'll be getting an inferior product for the same price.
Now apply this to the gaming industry, one already rife with deluxe editions gating content with price tags frequently north of $100, yet still including microtransactions.
Today the core game would be $70, with the ad supported version at $50.
Tomorrow the core game is $100 with the ad supported version at $70. And you know what they'd say?
"If you don't want to pay $100 then just get the cheaper ad supported version."
It opens the door to increase base prices much more easily in a way that dismissed public outrage much more effectively. And before you know it, it's the industry standard. Ad-supported tiers are money making schemes masquerading as consumer friendly "options".
Absolutely not, because it isn't as simple as "Buy the cheaper version with ads if you don't want to pay full price/can't afford to." It sets a precedent, and we can see the effects in the streaming industry.
What used to be one subscription price has now turned into multiple tiers with half of them being subscriptions with ads, and more streaming services are picking up this model every year. The problem is that this gives them the perfect fallback when people complain about price hikes, which they've been doing a lot of in the past few years. "If you don't want to pay an additional $8 a month, just get the cheaper ad supported tier." which poses as a reasonable alternative but in reality only serves to hand wave away customers upset with their business practices. You have an alternative, you don't need to continue paying for your subscription that just went up in price, but you'll be getting an inferior product for the same price.
Now apply this to the gaming industry, one already rife with deluxe editions gating content with price tags frequently north of $100, yet still including microtransactions.
Today the core game would be $70, with the ad supported version at $50.
Tomorrow the core game is $100 with the ad supported version at $70. And you know what they'd say?
"If you don't want to pay $100 then just get the cheaper ad supported version."
It opens the door to increase base prices much more easily in a way that dismissed public outrage much more effectively. And before you know it, it's the industry standard. Ad-supported tiers are money making schemes masquerading as consumer friendly "options".