HiGame

Ask a gamer what they think of downloadable content (DLC) these days, and you’re as likely to hear a torrent of blistering language as anything positive. The process of releasing content piecemeal over time has been extremely controversial in the gaming community. Publishers have embraced the concept despite the mixed reaction of gamers. It’s now common practice for AAA games to release several follow-up areas or adventures, and access to such is often sold as a “Season Pass.”



DLC, as often viewed by gamers

One of the most controversial aspects of DLC has been on-disc DLC that ships as part of the core game, but that players must pay a fee to unlock. Dragon Age: Origins was criticized for this when it launched in 2009 — as soon as you reached your camp, NPCs essentially attempted to sell you a DLC package from within the game itself. In a recent interview with GameSpot, EA executive Peter Moore declared that gamer hostility to DLC was “nonsense,” and caused by a fundamental misunderstanding of how game development works. When asked how EA reconciles the tension between gamers who generally dislike DLC and publishers that increasingly depend on it for revenue, Moore responded “Well a lot of that resistance comes from the erroneous belief that somehow companies will ship a game incomplete, and then try to sell you stuff they have already made and held back. Nonsense.”
That answer might seem dismissive, but there’s quite a bit of truth to it.

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