With Mass Effect 3′s ending controversy the biggest story out of that game, we can tend to forget the kerfuffle that came earlier in its release cycle. Fans were outraged when a seemingly important character was slotted into a Day One DLC package, and many felt like something vital had been cut from the game in order to sell more copies.
But Bioware is defending that practice, with Director of Online Development for Bioware Montreal Fernando Melo speaking about it at GDC this week. He says “players want more content, and they want it now — the problem is that there is no single ‘now’, so it should be there when they’re ready for it.” He says that it pleases players who were looking for a content rich game from the start.” He went on to argue that players who finish the game quickly want more content, so why shouldn’t it just be available at launch?
Of course, the counter-argument to this is obvious. Shouldn’t games be content-rich without having to pay $10 more for additional content? This is the problem many fans have with the practice. These Day One packs feel carved out of the game in order to push a quick sale.
It’s worth examining, however, that this isn’t necessarily true. Day One DLC is not usually something specifically cut from the game. The fact is, once a game wraps, the dev team has little to do until launch, and so they may cobble together some additional content, perhaps drawn from old ideas that were scrapped due to time constraints or a lack of resources. There’s less of a time crunch as if it’s not finished, it can be DLC later, but if it is completed, it can be more content for players at launch. It’s a win-win.
Unfortunately, perception is everything, and if players feel like they’re getting ripped off, it doesn’t always matter whether they are in fact, getting ripped off.
And the fact is, these numbers don’t lie. So far Day One DLC is selling hugely well, particularly for Bioware. For example, 53 percent of total sales for Dragon Age: Origins launch DLC were made on launch day. Players don’t like feeling like they’re missing out, so they’ll shell out for the content regardless of the additional cost. Many did the same for Mass Effect 3, even if the pack wasn’t as essential as it initially seemed.
It all comes down to the tried and true, “if it sells, sell it,” philosophy that drives the entire industry. If players really had a significant problem with Day One DLC, they wouldn’t buy it. You could argue that it feels essential to the game, and the player’s hands are being forced. But really, it’s always ultimately the player’s decision, even if they are being put in a tough position as fans. There are few cases of launch DLC, despite the outrage, actually taking something away that’s essential to the main game. It may depend on the definition of “essential,” and that’s where controversy can occur.
But the existence of Day One DLC creates the perception problem itself. If Mass Effect 3 had been released without the extra character and mission, I doubt few would have called it “lacking content” (other than the ending). But the simple fact that additional content did exist on Day One, players felt like they were being sold an incomplete product, one that took $10 to complete. Is the perception problem worth the $10 extra in revenue? So far, the answer seems to be yes.
Have you bought Day One DLC? Why did you do so?