Pay for Advantage is a term used across various platforms on the internet, but its definition lacks consensus. Therefore, we’ve crafted our own interpretation of the phrase. To us, “Pay for Advantage” refers to the ability to purchase any type of in-game resource, regardless of whether those resources can be obtained through other means such as waiting for timers to expire or completing specific tasks within the game. If these resources are available for purchase, they give the buyer an advantage over other players who may be competing within the game, such as through leaderboards. In summary, if a game offers, or has offered, anything beyond cosmetic items, it falls under the category of “Pay for Advantage”.

Loot Boxes can be defined as in-game purchases linked to elements of chance. They have been widely recognized as simulated gambling and have been banned in various countries.

In-game Store is the marketplace in a game where players can spend real money in exchange for in-game goods, currency or cosmetics.

Purchasable Currency is an in-game currency that is purchased with real money and then used for microtransactions. This can be used as a method of manipulating the player to make confused decisions while purchasing. Especially when there are multiple currencies available for purchase in the shop. Placing a conversion barrier before purchases is a common way of having the customer disassociate the purchase with real world money.

In-game Trading is when players are able to trade items or currency with other players. Sometimes this is through an auctionhouse or in-game forum. This potentially causes 3rd-party websites to start selling in game goods, usually provided via bots, and creates a real money trading market while destroying the intended in-game economy.

Paid DLC refers to additional downloadable content for sale.

Subscription Model refers to reoccurring fees to reach content.

Battle Pass is a multi-tiered reward system that provides incentives for playing daily. This model has been prevalent in gaming for decades. Usually, there is a free path and a paid path that offers much higher quantities/quality of rewards. Sometimes, there are multiple paid tiers that increase in value.

All Content Available as F2P is about the games having real world money exclusive products or not. This section does not refer to cosmetics. It is there to answer the question “Is game fully functional/accessible without paying any extra money after the initial purchase?”

Competitive Game refers to games that have money rewarded competitions.

Deluxe version means another version of the game with some changes usually at a different price point.

VIP Pass refers to reoccurring fees to get power. In most city-building/strategy type mobile games, developers provide an option to pay for a “VIP Pass” that provides static benefits to the players like increasing resource production, decreasing timers, etc. These options are generally tiered and the more the player pays the more benefits the player gets. Even though almost always there are in-game systems that allow players to gain these rewards, most of the time it takes an unreasonable amount of time.

Live Service game is a video game designed for continual updates and support from developers. These games regularly provide new content, features, events, and sometimes expansions or downloadable content to maintain player interest. They often include online multiplayer, social aspects, and micro-transactions to fund their ongoing development and generate income.

Ads During Gameplay is specific to advertising that is done during gameplay. This counts whether gameplay is prevented by the advertisement or not. In-game advertising has been around for many years. However, it has recently become a growing method of monetization within video games. There are many different kinds of advertisting done within games, but we are only specifying when a game advertises during gameplay. We may expand this criteria in the future.