The DLC Debate – Against

By: Moses Abaortae

  |   December 8th, 2012   |  

Uncategorized

Why would publishers, after asking consumers to pay $60 for a game, then ask for an additional amount in order to access more content. Why? Why!

Imagine buying an item, any item for full price and the second one walks out the door, the announcement of an ‘add-on’ to the item, which could have easily been fit into the package in the first place is announced.

That, in essence, is a slightly narrow example of how some publishers use the DLC model. There are numerous examples of DLCs being announced for games before they are even released. Then there are those that have the basic code for the DLC written on the disc on release but the DLC ‘unlocks’ it. Why not just put the extra content on the disc in the first place.

There is no denying that many of the publishers in the industry abuse the DLC model and with the future of gaming supposedly heading into the free-to-play era, this is not good news.

With free-to-play gaming, players can download the game for free and function. However, if they want the more powerful items, weapons and content then they need to pay real world money in order to access it.

The model has been tried out in a few games already and the early response from fans has been that it needs to be renamed, ‘free to play, pay to win’.

While DLC may be a choice and no one forcing it down everyone’s throats, one has to wonder why they would pay full price for a game only to find out they have to pay extra for more content. There are plenty of examples of free DLCs being made available and one has to lean towards the side that when it comes to standard retail purchases, a one-time payment should provide access to all the DLC and bonus content on offer.

However that is from a consumers point of view and for publishers any extra revenue for the work they have put into their projects is justifiable. At the same time though, some of the practices employed by publishers and developers such as Bioware and Capcom have been met with ferocious backlash from the gaming faithful.

As long as there is a balance and value on offer in the DLC, a price can be justified but it is during those times that one feels the content should have been part of the first-time purchase that the gaming community feels hard done by and there are plenty of examples for both sides of the argument.

But how do you feel about DLCs? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Disclaimer: the views and opinions expressed in this article are the writer’s own and do not reflect the editorial policy of wishfree.com in any way.