MTX Zone

Microtransaction Zone, a.k.a. MTX Zone, started as a conversation between friends, turned into an idea, and brought to life together. We noticed that there was no good source for learning about the many ways modern video games ask—and sometimes mandate—a person to spend money after purchasing it the first time. These purchases, called microtransactions, have flooded the multi-billion dollar industry, and we wanted to do something to make it fast and simple to learn what games would ask them to buy.

It was too large of a scope to assume two people could make a site and proceed to make write-ups for hundreds of games. We gained permission from Giant Bomb to use their extensive database of games, then we built a free-to-use, free to contribute, advertising-free platform where users could submit information on microtransactions for any given game. We wanted users to be able to search for a game and quickly evaluate it, too, so we developed a system of humorous, descriptive tags and corresponding icons that describe the most common categories of microtransactions. My partner, Simon, built the majority of the back-end, and I performed the UX research and design for the front-end and designed the brand identity/elements.

When we reached a beta version of the site, we created a social platform to connect with people who were interested in our cause, then collaborating with them to increase accessibility, improve our tag system, and speed everything up. All together, we pulled together a simple, secure site that accommodates hundreds of submissions about how modern games get (so often) monetized.