Interesting that this topic is resurfacing.  My husband and I this morning were just discussing the same topic, as we are both gamers, and we saw a story about Activision trying to put a patent on the gaming microtransaction system.  Well, how can they claim that when there are many variations of the microtransaction system in different games?  Activision/EA are going to be the death, sadly, to the gaming industry.  I think this is why more and more indie titles (like Ori or Cuphead) are turning out to be excellent games.