{"version":"1.0","type":"rich","provider_name":"Acast","provider_url":"https://acast.com","height":250,"width":700,"html":"","title":"The \"Pay-to-Play\" Scheme That (Almost) Ruined Video Games, with Dan Soder","thumbnail_width":200,"thumbnail_height":200,"thumbnail_url":"https://open-images.acast.com/shows/68b1d0ea993d10acb9c3fe4f/1783989668063-ec525b03-c739-4d57-b72e-6f06d9d1abe4.jpeg?height=200","description":"

Virtual currency is a new cheat code. But when EA Sports tried to squeeze extra cash out of sports fans with so-called \"microtransactions\" inside its latest-college football title, gamers revolted... and won? Comedian Dan Soder, who's been playing video games with a future NFL coach since childhood, takes Pablo on a journey to the seventh circle of nerddom: What does this phenomenon say about private equity turning fun into an asset? How do we stop sacrificing community for convenience? And is shame still possible?


• Subscribe to \"Soder\"


Previously on PTFO:


• Share & Madden & Tell with Katie Nolan and Dan Soder

• We Smoked All the Athlete-Branded Weed We Could Find

","author_name":"The Athletic"}