Ladies and gentlemen, we have reached peak microtransaction. Today it has been announced that Konami will be introducing “FOB insurance,” a new microtransaction that can be made in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, which will allow players to insure their Forward Operating Base in order to prevent items being stolen by other players – y’know, one of the key aspects of Metal Gear Solid V‘s online multiplayer.
Konami explained the new system in the following announcement, which detailed this whole mess:
FOB insurance service begins!
Your FOBs are always at risk of coming under attack. Now, you can rest easy with FOB insurance (paid service). If you sign up for insurance, then during the insurance period you will be compensated for any materials and staff lost due to rival infiltrations.
Staff/materials stolen by the rival will in fact remain on your base, and an identical amount of staff/materials will be handed over to the rival instead. MB Coins are purchased with real money, but free MB Coins are also distributed periodically as login bonuses, etc.
The following are not covered by FOB insurance:
- Staff/items that are not fully your property, such as abducted staff being held in your Brig (FOB).
- Wounder staff (staff lost due to death or extraction will be compensated).
- Staff used by you to deploy in defense of the FOB (neither death nor extraction will be compensated).
This announcement indicates that paying for FOB insurance will only insure your base periodically, though Konami has not revealed how much real-life money this insurance will set you back, nor how long this insurance will last before you have to renew it.
So this is it; we’re now being asked renew insurance in a video game, in order to protect our virtual items from damages and theft. We have truly reached the end times.
