For higher or worse, we’re paying otherwise for DLC in 2017.
For the longest time, video games adopted a single cadence with post-launch content material: growth packs that launched at round 50 % of the bottom recreation’s worth, and required the principle recreation to operate. Then DLC occurred, and with it got here season passes.
Since then, season passes and piece-meal content material packs have been the defacto method for publishers to help multiplayer video games publish launch, till very lately.
Suddenly, one recreation after one other began providing or promising post-launch content material free of charge. Sometimes this takes the type of new maps, modes, and weapons. The one factor all video games that shifted to this mannequin have in widespread is microtransactions. For essentially the most half, these have a tendency to supply beauty objects and different trinkets that don’t intervene with gameplay. When they do intervene, they’re dealt with properly sufficient that you could ignore them, or earn an equal simply by enjoying.
This transfer has largely been positively obtained, save for many who have a principled stance in opposition to microtransactions in full-priced video games. Outside of that, this new development is hailed because the saviour of on-line video games as a result of it prevents splitting recreation communities. People are completely satisfied to call drop Rainbow Six: Siege and Overwatch pretty much as good examples of this each time a writer dares to announce a season move for its subsequent multiplayer recreation.
But there’s one factor seemingly nobody is speaking about: the quantity of content material we get now – and over what kind of time span – in comparison with what we used to get with $10 and $15 add-ons.
“Imagine a scenario where next year’s Battlefield game is the one that gets microtransactions and free content drops in place of Premium content. Do you think for a second that we’ll be getting four maps every three to four months?”
Let’s check out Titanfall, a recreation that really went by way of each programs. The unique recreation obtained three DLC packs publish launch in May, July, and August. Each pack was priced $10 and the season move bought you all the things for $25. By August, 2014, Titanfall had obtained 9 new maps in slightly below three months, with the primary one having launched two months after the sport’s launch. That’s not an insignificant quantity.
Compare that to Titanfall 2; we’re now over eight months since launch and the sport has obtained solely 4 maps, three of that are remakes of ones from the primary recreation. There’s a brand new weapon, a brand new Titan, and the brand new Live Fire mode (which itself obtained a few maps however they don’t rely given their restricted use), and a complete lot of stuff you’ll be able to spend actual cash on that doesn’t have an effect on the motion recreation.
The comparability could be very revealing, and although it’s true you’ll be able to blame the sequel’s weak post-launch content material on the its gross sales efficiency at launch, we nonetheless ended up with much less content material as a result of it was free.
Star Wars: Battlefront 2 is one other recreation dropping the outdated season move mannequin in favour of loot boxes. How pretty they’re applied stays to be seen, however I’ve a tough time believing we’re going to get common, four-map drops each three months this time round like we did with the unique.
There is simply no method EA will be capable to fund this quantity of free content material from loot field gross sales alone, and I haven’t even talked about the variety of further heroes the unique recreation obtained. I very a lot doubt Battlefront 2 may even come shut. If we’re fortunate, we’ll get 4 of 5 maps – at most, which is akin to a few single growth’s price of content material.
Battlefield 1 is a recreation many assumed could be the primary within the collection to make the transfer to free post-launch content material, however EA introduced a Premium pass two months earlier than launch with out hesitation. For one, it could actually get away with it – it’s the corporate’s largest shooter.
But attempt to think about a situation the place subsequent yr’s Battlefield recreation is the one which will get microtransactions and free content material drops instead of Premium. Do you assume for a second that we’ll be getting 4 maps each three to 4 months like we’ve been getting thus far? Battlefield 1’s DLC schedule hasn’t been nice, but it surely was simply high quality in Battlefield three and four.
And why go that far. If you forged your thoughts again to the Bad Company 2 days – you understand, the times when DICE was happy to make fun of other studios charging for maps – you’ll realise that Bad Company 2 didn’t truly get new maps till VIP Map Pack 7. All earlier releases have been merely variations of current maps that might be performed in a special mode, a Rush model of Nelson Bay and so forth. When it got here time for precise, big-production content material, DICE casually charged $15 for the Vietnam DLC.
We can’t speak about season passes with out mentioning Call of Duty. Though it must be stated that the collection has a little bit of a singular scenario in a few methods. Firstly, Call of Duty video games are by no means starved for content material. Each $15 map pack comes with 4 maps, one in all which is normally a remake, typically an additional weapon, and a giant, fully-featured Zombies chapter.
If you play Call of Duty repeatedly, shopping for the season move makes full sense. Second, Call of Duty is a collection that’s been more and more implementing loot drops with game-changing stats that closely push you to fork out for its microtransactions. Black Ops 3 is liked for its gameplay, however you won’t find any of even its most avid fans come out in favour of weapon variants. The similar will be stated for Advanced Warfare, which began this unlucky development.
Call of Duty will get to have its cake and eat it. It’s not considering altering its enterprise mannequin anytime quickly as a result of each new entry – exterior of topping the charts – fairly merely consists of each enterprise mannequin in video games, so it’d be unfair to match it to the remainder of them.
The argument right here is strictly about amount, as a result of it’d be pointless to match three common maps and one good map launched each three months (at worst) with one actually good map each 4 months. The lengthy and in need of it’s that content material will get a large minimize nobody can deny.
This can also be not a combat for what’s greatest for a recreation’s neighborhood and longevity as a result of everyone knows that splitting the participant base is the more serious choice. But you’ll be able to’t separate this from the truth that video games that made this transition have seen lengthy content material droughts.
“Games that made this transition to free post-launch content have seen long content droughts.”
Pre-selling a season passes compels publishers to take a position the cash into this content material, which is why it will get made. Loot field gross sales don’t supply wherever close to that certainty, particularly in the event that they’re purely beauty. You typically hear about poorly-received DLC packs for this or that recreation, however by no means one the neighborhood completely hated.
Even whenever you have a look at video games like Rainbow Six Siege and Overwatch, you continue to don’t find yourself with a satisfying alternative to the outdated season move mannequin. Rainbow Six Siege obtained six new maps because it launched in 2015. I respect that Siege is a recreation about characters greater than maps, however post-launch courses are not free.
So actually, you’re solely paying for the heroes right here and Ubisoft is throwing in a map to sweeten the deal. Yes, it’s doable to play for hours on finish to grind sufficient in-game foreign money to afford one class, but it surely’s an arduous course of that’s unattainable to anybody however essentially the most common gamers.
As a consequence, gamers both hold utilizing the unique courses or fork out for the season move when the grind turns into an excessive amount of. To say nothing of the well-stocked in-game retailer filled with all kinds of charms, skins, boosts, and weapon camos – all obtainable for actual cash.
As for Overwatch – in the event you ignore the actual fact we’ve solely ever gotten three new maps (Assault/Escort/Control, not together with Arcade) post-launch – it turns into clear that it’s the one recreation doing it proper. Everything significant launched publish launch has been free.
This includes heroes like Doomfist, in fact. Crucially, none of this content material requires any quantity of labor to unlock. When it’s out, everybody will get it. No favouritism and no grind. As far as I’m involved, promoting skins and emotes is a very reasonable worth for this. But most video games can’t be Overwatch, for design or enterprise causes.
In order for extra AAA multiplayer titles to make a significant transition to a system of free post-launch content material, they’ll must do greater than throw a bone to free gamers. Keeping the meaty content material stuff behind hours of grinding, RNG, or a special paywall will get folks reminiscing concerning the good ol’ days of season passes.
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