The price point, at the time, was the issue. Still, upon reflection, Howard told IGN, “Horse armor is not bad. We have come a long way as consumers since that time, and sadly, it feels like Obvilion was the start of the slippery slope that we see today, where microtransactions range from the purely cosmetic, often meant to support a developer, to the predatory, through addictive loot boxes. Today, cosmetic items in multiplayer games can easily start at $20 for a skin in Fortnite, or a Power Suit and paint job in Fallout 76. Initially, the DLC was priced at a lower point, but someone at Microsoft - Howard would not reveal who specifically - insisted that Bethesda need to charge more. When the DLC was first released, fans bucked at the high-cost of $2.50 for a cosmetic item that no one else would see the single-player game.
