Downloadable Content: Difference between revisions

 

Of course, DLC also has some controversy attached to it. Many a dedicated and knowledgeable gamer may crack the game to see what is stored in the disc, and they won't be too happy if they see that the DLC they got was already on the game to begin with, thus making the DLC pure [[Bribing Your Way to Victory]]. Another issue DLC brings up is pricing. It is subjective what content is worth paying for, but some gamers in general fear that game developers may use DLC as a way to milk more money out of their consumers by rushing the game (thus making it filled with bugs or missing content) and then charging people to get the rest of the good stuff. Also, DLC can often give a player a competitive advantage online, essentially forcing every player in the game to buy the DLC just to compete with other people who bought the DLC for exactly the same reason.

As with many things, many of the reasons and rationale on both sides can be ripe with knee jerk reactions. While it may be possible (and true) for a rare few developers to push out buggy games with less content in order to sell DLC, most are quite aware of one simple fact of video game life: Bad games don't sell enough to break even and make money (ie pay back the cost of development which will include paying off the publisher, advertising, retailers, etc). It's hard to sell DLC when the initial game does poorly. And in a somewhat hit-driven industry, putting out a bad game that doesn't make money can often mean the death sentence for all but the most well established developer. On the other hand, the rationale that game development has seen ever-inflating budgets may be true, the industry itself is at least partially to blame thanks having cultivated a bigger/better/newer mentality that continually tries to one-up itself without consideration for the logistics and reality that video games are one of the most expensive industries around. For instance, a typically AAA big budget title will likely have a budget around $50 million and take about 18 months to create. The typical time frame where a game will make the majority of its sales? Two weeks. That is well documented by industry organizations, whether for big hit or sleeper. Thus if a game doesn't make a splash in those first two weeks, it will likely never see the cost of development paid off in a reasonable amount of time to keep a studio alive. This puts intense pressure on studios to attract ever mercurial audiences to drop money on their title before the next big thing.

 

 

With the exception of the PC, where the vast majority of all DLC is [[Game Mod|user-made content]] and therefore free, DLC is a prime example of debateability. These complaints can become especially pointed when modding tools are omitted, access to mods from other platforms is denied, or online server browsers lock out mods. Mixes with [[New Media Are Evil]] when you encounter people who think DLC in general is pure evil and that all companies only care about ripping off its consumers for their games. Backlashes within the gaming community often occur (regardless of the content of the actual DLC), in the forms of [[Accentuate the Negative]], [[Broken Base]], [[Internet Backdraft]], [[Unpleasable Fanbase]], and many others are often seen when DLC is even discussed.

 

For products which are paid for and then downloaded in general see [[Digital Distribution]].

 

{{examples}}

* ''Raliworks''

** ''Railworks 2'' has [http://i.imgur.com/9z0bc.jpg $1000 worth of DLC], comprised of dozens and dozens of $10 add-ons.

* ''[[Rock Band]]''

* ''[[Sakura Taisen|Sakura Taisen 3]]''

** "Drama files" containing small stories. Some cost money (well, DreamPoints) to download.

 

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