And the EA boss says DLC can counter the threat posed by both
John Riccitiello believes that is post-release downloadable content is the key tool in battling both the pre-owned market and piracy.
“The consumer seems to really like this idea that there is extra stuff,” Riccitiello told Nightly Business Report. “The consumer wants more, and when you sell them more it seems to be extremely well received.
“There’s a sizable pirate market and a sizable second sale market and we want to try to generate revenue in that marketplace.
Riccitiello also stated that EA has already sold 1 million pieces of DLC for its recently released RPG Dragon Age.
“I don’t think anybody should pirate anything,” he added. “I believe in the artistry of the people who build. I profoundly believe that, and when you steal from us, you steal from them. Having said that, there are a lot of people who do.”
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We don't think people should exploit the developers, but we feel it okay to withhold items and then exploit the gamer by later selling it to them at an increased premium... is basically what he is saying.
DLC seems to be all well and good, until you realise the percentage of cost relative to the percentage of time to create, that it is equal to. Did the Oblivion horse armour really take 20% of the development time and resources to produce for instance?
They can't keep saying "here's our new game" and then a week later, "here's the rest of our new game for just another £5", closely followed by, "oh, we forgot this bit of our game, for just another £3" etc...
While ever this industry, and the other entertainment industries continue to treat the public like infinitely resourced mugs, they're going to have to combat the consequences.
Why do people buy a DVD when they know that in 6 months time, the "Director's Cut" will be released? Then after 3 films, the Extended boxed trilogy with "never seen before footage, even in the director's cut we conned you into buying" will be released, shortly followed by the announcement of the 4th film, thereby making that box set worthless. I mean, how many versions of the Alien box sets have there been, 4, 5?
Why do people buy a CD when 8 months later, the same album with "bonus tracks" will be released?
You cannot keep treating the public like idiots. Admittedly, there are people who WILL buy the stuff to keep them doing it, but eventually, an increasing percentage will start to think "if what I buy will be rendered worthless, then what is the point of spending money on it?".
The whole entertainment industry has to start treating the consumer with the respect that they expect the consumer to treat the industry with.
There's nothing wrong with the idea of selling DLC. If I'm really into a game and want to experience more then I'll purchase additional content. If not, I won't buy it.
The only case where I would have an issue is with an obviously stripped down game that requires you to buy DLC for a complete experience. Fortunately I haven't played a game like this.
Your DVD analogy is flawed. DLC in games is designed to extend the lifespan of a product by selling to existing customers. Director's cut and boxed set DVDs are designed to get new customers to purchase the movie who haven't done so already.
I haven't seen many games 'rip-off' the consumer with DLC. Very often it is a a well priced add-on that gives additional content rather than content that maybe should have been there in the first place. The oblivion horse-armour is always brought up because there hasn't been anything as boneheaded as that since that was the first DLC.
Very often I have bought new levels and been happy that it only cost me an extra fiver and I have found that great value for money. Very often I have passed other DLC by because I didn't feel like I needed it for the complete experience.
And remember that DLC content has to be made on top of the main game too and that costs money. Very often after production of the main game. It's not like it all gets made and then some of it gets held back (usually). We have a hard enough time getting the main game bug-fee and out the door never mind all that extra stuff on the same day.
one of the problems I see is that the DLC doesn't come down in price after being released, whereas compare it to the game itself and it will normally be worth around £15 or so after a few months (take borderlands for a recent example, it came out at the end of October and already you can get it easily for sub-£20). My point is that while it may be fine to release DLC that costs £5 or £7 for a few hours worth of content when a game is launched, when you can get the full game itself (or in most cases, an alternative full game) for triple the cost of some DLC, its a no contest as to what most people would buy. Publishers need to start reducing the price of DLC in line with the price people would pay for the full game
