History Main / RevenueEnhancingDevices

** And now Nintendo is doing it as well, with the Switch introducing its own paid online service.

* ''VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft'' has a ton of these, from the aforementioned CollectibleCardGame to standard [=WoW=]-themed [[TheMerch merchandise]] to a Pet Store where you can spend cash for in-game vanity pets and mounts. The upshot is that this is all purely cosmetic stuff and is in no way necessary to access or complete content...[[TemptingFate so]] [[Creator/{{Activision}} far]]. The most {{egregious}} example thus far in VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft: the Celestial Steed, a mount which provides no concrete in-game benefit, aside from looking cool. The sheer number of orders resulted in a queue on the online store for ''days''. Players realized too late that a mount like that is no longer cool if EVERYBODY gets it. [[Creator/TheCynicalBrit TotalBiscuit]] parodied that by calling the item "That Retarded Horse," or TRH for short.

* ''VideoGame/GuitarHero'':

** In ''Warriors of Rock'', unlocking things is done by earning stars in Quickplay+ mode. There are only so many songs on-disc, which limits the amount of stars you can get total, and DLC songs count towards your star total, so buying lots of DLC makes it easier to unlock everything.

* A special mention should go out to how Creator/SquareEnix has been releasing DLC for their UsefulNotes/WiiWare releases. Oftentimes, they will release the base game at a nominal fee (around $10, give or take), and then additional content will be $2-$3 each. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'' is $37 in its complete form, while ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles: MyLifeAsADarklord'' takes the proverbial cake at $67 if you purchase all of its DLC!

* HeroClix uses the booster pack model. A booster will have two commons, two uncommons, and one rare. One in (about) every four packs will instead have two commons, one uncommon, one rare, and one super-rare. Given that they encourage you to buy new sets in packs of 12 (you get a free figure if you do), not bad. So, of course, that's not the end of the story. Some sets have chase figures, which have varities varying from 1 in every 50 boosters to 1 in every 100. If you want one, you've got two choices: get extremely lucky, or get over to eBay.

* There have been accusations made, such as [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/stolen-pixels/5137-Stolen-Pixels-12-The-Economics-Lesson this comic]], that the limited number of installs allowed by the {{DRM}} in EA's PC games from ''VideoGame/{{Spore}}'' is a form of this. While some complaints are fairly mild, in other cases, such as Spore, the DRM is essentially invasive malware that also contains horrible install limitations (sometimes 3 "total" installations).

->''And then we get to the part where the letter straight-up sounds like satire: 'We believe Nintendo can create very profitable games based on in-game revenue models with the right development team. Just think of paying 99 cents just to get Mario to jump a little higher.[='=]''

* The most blatant example of this is the {{Xbox 360}} version of ''VideoGame/TheGodfather: The Game''... several already-present in-game merchants won't deal with you until you've 'unlocked' them with real-life moolah. This includes all of the most powerful weapon-upgrades and the strongest henchman. You could also just buy packets of in-game cash. There's certainly an irony to a game about the mafia demanding extra money for special favors.

* The XBox 360 avatar system is a surprisingly effective cash cow. For various amounts of Microsoft Points (with a real cost equivalent of 50 cents to 5 dollars) you can purchase clothing items or props for your avatar. These items have no gameplay purpose at all, and only make your avatar look slightly different in the few games that use your avatar, or when you appear in other people's friend lists.

* ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries SoulCalibur 4]]'' and ''VideoGame/AceCombat6FiresOfLiberation'' are clearly making money via [=DLC=]s. The former lets you buy additional tracks, characters and character equipment (including weapons ''which can be unlocked in-game without the DLC'', but it's specified in its description before you buy it, both on XBox Live or UsefulNotes/PlayStationNetwork) while the latter offers special planes and custom paintjobs for them (including several [[VideoGame/TheIdolMaster Idolmaster]]-themed and {{Call Back}}s to earlier games).

* Alert gamers have noticed that some purchasable {{Xbox}} Live DLC is nothing more than a code which unlocks content ''that is already on the disc you paid for''; Namco and EA are particularly known for this, as is the PSN DLC (any DLC with a stated size of 100kb is just an unlock key), and Square-Enix's WiiWare releases have begun to follow suit

* A special mention should go out to how Creator/SquareEnix has been releasing DLC for their WiiWare releases. Oftentimes, they will release the base game at a nominal fee (around $10, give or take), and then additional content will be $2-$3 each. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'' is $37 in its complete form, while ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles: MyLifeAsADarklord'' takes the proverbial cake at $67 if you purchase all of its DLC!

* There have been accusations made, such as [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/comics/stolen-pixels/5137-Stolen-Pixels-12-The-Economics-Lesson this comic]], that the limited number of installs allowed by the {{DRM}} in EA's PC games from ''{{Spore}}'' is a form of this. While some complaints are fairly mild, in other cases, such as Spore, the DRM is essentially invasive malware that also contains horrible install limitations (sometimes 3 "total" installations).

** ''Rock Band'' has over 3,000 songs available for download at roughly $2 each. Of course, this attracts a fair share of criticism from certain nay-sayers, who would prefer Harmonix to sell them the music on-disc (at a more effective value) instead of selling it as overpriced DLC; however, several track packs and albums are offered at a discount compared to buying each song individually.[[note]]Also bear in mind this was ''Guitar Hero''[='=]s MO and is widely regarded as the GenreKiller because of it.[[/note]] This is particularly prevalent for ''Music/TheBeatles: RockBand'', whose tracklist included a minimal 45 songs for a full-priced game, with a selection of other songs from the band's catalogue (specifically the missing songs from ''Rubber Soul'', ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'' and ''Abbey Road'') sold separately. And that's not even getting to the instrument peripherals...

** ''MapleStory'', another Nexon game, is even more notorious for this; with many cash shop items being well into the GameBreaker side of the trope. To the point where many players consider the game effectively unplayable without spending considerable amounts of real money, due to the exhorbitant amount of grinding needed otherwise.

* ''Railworks'' turns this trope up to eleven with its DLC on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}. The price for all of the DLC combined is over FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN DOLLARS, with single train addons usually costing twenty dollars each and route addons going forty. Add to that the fact that new DLC becomes available about every week, [[CrackIsCheaper crack may indeed, be cheaper]]. The cost for all the DLC jumped from over $700 to over $2000 in six months, and it shows no signs of slowing down. There is some free DLC... at least one of which requires another, not-free DLC train to play. This is presumably counterbalanced by the idea that nobody will buy ''all'' the DLC, and people will only buy the particular trains and routes they're interested in.

* In ''VideoGame/BurnoutParadise'', after you buy Big Surf Island, anything that used to show the "Paradise City" logo now shows a "Paradise City: Big Surf Island" logo. Also, you get a new main menu so you can choose which expansion pack to start from, and a new car menu that lets you choose between different types of cars. Oh wait, it does all this even if you haven't bought the pack, so that most of the ''main menu'' selections lead you to a "Oh you haven't bought this yet? Well get out that credit card!" screen. There's also a new page to flip through on the pause screen that promotes the store, which means one more microload between you and the options menu. Big Surf Island itself also gets added, so your £10 just lets you access it. Otherwise, it's fully visible, and you can even start to drive across the bridge to it... only to be greeted with a pop-up menu saying to buy the Island to continue. If you refuse, the game will face you the other way and drive you back into Paradise City.

The term comes from the Reagan Administration, where UsefulNotes/RonaldReagan had more-or-less promised smaller government, and found they had to raise taxes. Well, rather than say they were raising taxes, they mentioned a new way to obtain money: ''[[NoExceptYes Revenue Enhancement]]'', which people immediately saw that 'Revenue' in this case meant 'tax' and enhancement meant 'increase'.

* ''Railworks'' turns this trope up to eleven with its DLC on UsefulNotes/{{Steam}}. The price for all of the DLC combined is over FOUR HUNDRED AND TWENTY-SEVEN DOLLARS, with single train addons usually costing twenty dollars each and route addons going forty. Add to that the fact that new DLC becomes available about every week, [[CrackIsCheaper crack may indeed, be cheaper]]. The cost for all the DLC jumped from over $700 to over $2000 in six months, and it shows no signs of slowing down. There is some free DLC... at least one of which requires another, not-free DLC train to play.
** As a simulation, the DLC is modeled to as close to real life as possible, something that requires a lot of time and money. On top of that, none of it is required, rather it's a case of buying the train you like or the route you'd like to take.

* A special mention should go out to how Creator/SquareEnix has been releasing DLC for their WiiWare releases. Oftentimes, they will release the base game at a nominal fee (around $10, give or take), and then additional content will be $2-$3 each. ''VideoGame/FinalFantasyIVTheAfterYears'' is $37 in its complete form, while ''FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles: MyLifeAsADarklord'' takes the proverbial cake at $67 if you purchase all of its DLC!

* The multiplayer modes of the [=GameCube=] games ''FinalFantasyCrystalChronicles'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaFourSwordsAdventures'' require each player to use a Game Boy Advance connected with a GBA-GCN cable to play. While this did make things a bit more streamlined by not making players constantly pause to go through their menus, or clutter up the screen with windows, it did make non-handheld gamers upset at being asked to buy a handheld system to play a console game with their friends.

* [[''Creator/ParadoxInteractive'' Paradox]] games, such as ''VideoGame/EuropaUniversalis'' and ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'', periodically release expansion [=DLCs=] that add new mechanics and features to the game, which players usually find fun and useful. However, alongside the main [=DLCs=], various types of cosmetic [=DLCs=] featuring portrait packs for new/existing cultures, new music, and new uniforms for military units. Altogether, this can cost quite a lot.

** It's also come under accusation of this following the introduction of the "Squeal of Fortune" which among other things, allows players to every day spin a roulette wheel for expensive items or experience. More specifically, spins can also be bought using real money. Among other things, [[BribingYourWayToVictory it's theoretically possible to gain the highest level of possible in many skills, or make hundreds of millions of coins,]] with a few hundred dollars worth of spins. This has been [[BaseBreaker less than popular]].

* ''[[VideoGame/SoulSeries SoulCalibur 4]]'' and ''VideoGame/AceCombat6FiresOfLiberation'' are clearly making money via [=DLC=]s. The former lets you buy additional tracks, characters and character equipment (including weapons ''which can be unlocked in-game without the DLC'', but it's specified in its description before you buy it, both on XBox Live or PlayStation Network) while the latter offers special planes and custom paintjobs for them (including several [[VideoGame/TheIdolMaster Idolmaster]]-themed and {{Call Back}}s to earlier games).

* During the 7th console generation, only the Xbox 360 required a monthly/yearly payment to use its online features, but now Sony realized they could get away with it too, so the [=PS4=] offers "free" games and online multiplayer with its PlayStation Plus service.

* During the 7th console generation, only the Xbox 360 required a monthly/yearly payment to use its online features, but now Sony realized they could get away with it too, so the PS4 offers "free" games and online multiplayer with its PlayStation Plus service.

* In ''{{Burnout}} Paradise'', after you buy Big Surf Island, anything that used to show the "Paradise City" logo now shows a "Paradise City: Big Surf Island" logo. Also, you get a new main menu so you can choose which expansion pack to start from, and a new car menu that lets you choose between different types of cars. Oh wait, it does all this even if you haven't bought the pack, so that most of the ''main menu'' selections lead you to a "Oh you haven't bought this yet? Well get out that credit card!" screen. There's also a new page to flip through on the pause screen that promotes the store, which means one more microload between you and the options menu. Big Surf Island itself also gets added, so your £10 just lets you access it. Otherwise, it's fully visible, and you can even start to drive across the bridge to it... only to be greeted with a pop-up menu saying to buy the Island to continue. If you refuse, the game will face you the other way and drive you back into Paradise City.

* [[''Creator/ParadoxInteractive'' Paradox]] games, such as ''VideoGame/EuropaUniversalis'' and ''VideoGame/CrusaderKings'', periodically release expansion DLCs that add new mechanics and features to the game, which players usually find fun and useful. However, alongside the main DLCs, various types of cosmetic DLCs featuring portrait packs for new/existing cultures, new music, and new uniforms for military units. Altogether, this can cost quite a lot.