It’s recently come to light that Konami has put an expiry date on its MB coin currency in MGSV.

While this is specifically limited to Japan and the Steam version of the game, this is a terrifying step in the way of nickel and diming consumers. MB coins are an in-game currency that can either be earned by logging in daily to MGSV via the daily bonuses or by purchasing them with actual cash. These MB coins are now only valid for a 6-month period, regardless of how the player acquired them. As of their notice today, February 17, that clock on the coins has been reset, but come August 17, those coins will disappear.

As if micro-transactions weren’t bad enough, at least we were secure in the knowledge that the currencies we paid for or earned would be there until we needed them. But I suppose Konami wants to get ahead of the curve and force players to be on top of their spending habits in game.

As I said, while this is only for a specific platform in a specific region, there’s now the chance that Konami will decide this plan needs to migrate to other platforms and other regions. Let alone tighten that expiry date to something shorter. That’s not something I want to think about. And heaven forbid any other company think about adopting the same model.

You could argue that within 6 months you would have reasonably used that cash up and this would be a non-issue for consistent players, but that’s no excuse to simply dump cash you paid into with your own money.

There’s currently no explanation or reasoning behind this new scheme which makes this all the worse.

Thanks to NeoGAF user Ludens for pointing this out.