I know it is, of course, but gamers, like any consumers, are happiest when they feel like they’re being looked after.
The subject of day one DLC rears its head frequently here on TSA, but recently EA’s Peter Moore spoke out about addition revenue streams and, as picked up by Gamasutra, something he said has echoed around the web.
“The key thing is selling digital content on the day of launch,” he said, proudly. “When we sold Mass Effect 3 back in March, we saw a 40 percent attach rate that first week to DLC at GameStop in the United States.”
“Not only are you selling a $60 game,” he added, “you’re selling $20 DLC, so the sale becomes $80.”
Well, that’s really nice. But as a consumer these sort of comments grate a little bit, because it seems like this is quickly becoming the norm. Yes, it’s optional, but it’s clear that – like Project $10 and the online pass – day one DLC will very quickly become the standard.
It’s all about the money, isn’t it?
“Once we get that disk installed in the tray of an Xbox or a PS3, we then look at our consumer on an ARPU basis,” added Moore. ARPU? Average Revenue Per User.
Long term, I see this becoming more and more essential too – publishers will still label it as ‘optional’, but it’ll start with a slightly better gun as DLC, then a faster car, then an extra level… Anything to get us to keep spending even though we’ve already paid for the game which, I might add, are hardly getting cheaper.
Burgess_101
I know business is all about the money but last time I checked part of making money is customer satisfaction. I understand the concept of DLC having separate budgets and dev. times. I just think its bad business ethics to exclude what feels to many customers a part of the game they are paying for. EA will continue to ruin the games industry until people start to actually realise what they are doing. I was actually on the fence about them being an “evil” company but comments like these just tipped it over the edge. I therefore boycott all future EA games. Including FIFA sadly. Long live companies that actually at least pretend they give a shit about what their customers say.
Boy do I miss the good old days of stand-alone expansions.
Forrest_01
To be frank, a lot of this is simply down to perception of the masses;
DLC released Day 1 = Must have been stripped out of game
DLC released a month later = Perfectly fine & obviously developed to elongate the lifespan of the game
Basically, if they just released the same thing (whether it be stripped out of game or developed seperately), i doubt many would complain.
Shakugan
But what happens IF the DLC was already done and they release a game on a market after that they wait for a month to release a DLC for avoiding suspects? However i don’t know if that’s even possible…
mad_mac_hl
While I’m not against DLC as a way of expanding the gaming experience, I personally am not a fan of it for one simple reason. For what you get, it’s massively overpriced a lot of the time. Take most recent pay-for DLC – what the publishers charge for them relative to the core games just doesn’t stack up.
Lets take a £50 game with some DLC at £10. I pay an extra 20% to get my DLC but I won’t get an extra 20% playtime to my game and probably not even 10%.
There was a time when games had expansion packs that you’d often pay a bit more for, but you got your money’s worth because they significantly expanded the game. Take Starcraft: Brood War or Baldur’s Gate: Throne of Bhaal (hey, I likes my rpg’s :) ). Both those expansions added many hours of additional gameplay.
I think for people to get on side with DLC – and I’m talking about released separately after the main game, not Day 1 or cut from the main game – then the pricing has got to be realistic for what you get.
Gadbury
I don’t trust Mr Moore based on appearance alone.
Kaminari
In essence, EA don’t care about damage control anymore. Question is — how long until their shitty reputation make their sales plummet?
Crocadillian
That’s capitalism! :D
All I can say is that i’m happy i stopped buying from EA two years ago. I can’t wait for next-generation consoles… :c