Before the start of this gen there was talk of a thing called downloadable content. I remember that loads of gamers were scared by this notion. Game developers could release  new missions, game modes and various other add ons. Unlike the PC, console gamers would rarely get any of this content for free.

Now DLC has been around on consoles for this generation, with everything from crap like Dead Rising’s ‘cheat’ unlocks to Mass Effect’s great slice of DLC, The Shadow Broker. Gamers and developers are starting to get a taste of how this will work and let’s not forget that this is still early days for the concept. New ideas are being created to boost interest and revenue for games, but are some of these a step to far?

Recently Capcom came out and said that 12 characters are already on the 360 and PS3 releases of the game,  but that players will just have to pay for them as DLC.  Once this news came out the internet exploded into anarchy. Why are players being denied this content?

According to Capcom this was so “Instead of a massive download, there will be a much smaller unlock that brings the new content to the surface”. It meant that Capcom could push their content to a wider audience of people. They also say on their blog that they “understand the reaction, but SFxT is a damn fun game with a ton of content right out of the gate and more stuff – all designed to keep this fresh – to come.”

So the fact that the game has over 30 characters means that players should not be bothered according to Capcom. I don’t really buy their argument if I am honest. Here Capcom are withholding content more than anything else. If you have these assets ready when the game ships it should be available for free. I can understand small items, or maybe a stage, but 12 characters is a huge chunk missing from this game. When you start thinking about money it gets even worse. If each character costs just £1 a pop, then that’s £12 ontop of the initial £40 purchase, making the game’s full price £52!

What really gets at me is that Street Fighter X Tekken’s gem system also has a heavy influence from pre-order content and DLC. The gem system allows users to beef up players with special modifiers such as a harder attack, quciker recovery ect. The better ones you’ll need to shell out for. So by doing this you’ve essentially broken what could have been a brilliant mode for the majority of users.

Unfortunately this is becoming a common trend in video games. Companies need to learn that this kind of aggressive DLC will only lose them fans. Sure they may make a buck or two along the way, but I already know several people that are going to pick up a different game this month because of this. DLC should be looked at once the game has gone gold, not while the game is being made. Once it is finished, give it away some for free to keep players enticed and release extra meaty content. This surely would help to battle pre-owned sales too. If you knew that you were about to get 12 DLC charactrs for free you may hold onto that game a while longer or even keep it outright. Only time will tall if Capcom’s approach works. I just hope for the sake of the games industry that it doesn’t.

 

 

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