DLC varies in price from less than a pound for something diddy like an avatar or a weapon or many pounds for extra gameplay. Usually it’s possible to buy a season pass that will allow you to pay once, forget about it and then fool yourself that you’re getting something free every time something new releases. Years ago, many of us didn’t give DLC a second glance but as digital content has become more and more mainstream and it’s almost a crime not to check the PSN Store at least once a day, it’s hard not to notice it and even harder not to buy it. With season pass prices averaging out at £25 a pop and sometimes coming closer to £40, it’s definitely time to look closely at what we’re buying and whether we’re getting value for money.
There is a school of thought that questions whether extra digital content should be included with the game you’ve just shelled out £50 for, and it’s really hard to argue with that when you see DLC being sold either upon release of the game or pretty much immediately afterwards. Is this content held back to make extra money and pad out a season pass? It’s tough not to see it like that. On the other hand, it is great to have extras so soon after a game’s release because , honestly, if you’re a big fan of the game or franchise you’re going to want that Steampunk outfit sooner rather than later when you’ve already played solidly for three weeks and it’s time to trade in. But haven’t we already paid for it? Why should we give the developer another £3.79 for something they definitely could have included for the basic price? Of course this is where special editions come in, which is sometimes another way of taking a little bit more of your money so you can feel a little bit more superior to everyone with the standard edition.
That’s a cynical start to this debate so to turn it on its head; why shouldn’t you be able to pay more and get special content? What’s wrong with that? These extras aren’t vital to the core game and if you didn’t know about them you wouldn’t miss their presence in your game. You don’t have to buy it, but if someone has spent an extra £20 for a soundtrack and a nice art book, why shouldn’t they get something a little extra that’s absent from the standard game? When you fly first class you don’t expect KP Nuts and a can of Tango.
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Many years ago Billy Idol spiked up his hair, painted a lop-sided grimace on his face and shouted ‘more, more, more!’ into a microphone. What a wise young man. When something is so damn good of course you’d want more. Extra dumplings? Another slice of cake? Another pack of the only socks in the world that don’t get eaten by your boots? It would be churlish to refuse. It’s now almost Video Game Law that all AAA releases come with a solemn promise of seconds. Extra characters, challenge maps, multiplayer outfits, pay-to-win upgrades, gameplay extensions and console themes – you name it, you can probably get it, but for a price. Is it a good thing that you buy more more more of what you love or is all this DLC somehow ripping us off?
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