Epic: DLC Needed to Fight "Used Game Culture"

[The Wooster]

Epic: DLC Needed to Fight "Used Game Culture"

Epic's Rod Fergusson defends pre-launch DLC development and argues it's a more pleasant alternative to Online Pass systems when it comes to "fighting" used games sales.

Day-one and on-disk DLC is an oft debated topic here in Internetland, with many gamers assuming, perhaps incorrectly, that content is being cut out of a game's final release so it can be shilled separately. That's now how it works, apparently, at least not according to Rod Fergusson, Director of Production at Epic games.

"What people need to understand is that extra content is something that you have to plan," said Fergusson, talking to Game Informer Magazine. "You don't just lift up a rock and say, 'oh shit, there's new levels!'," added Gears of War lead designer Cliff Bleszinski.

Day-one DLC is often developed in tandem with the base game, but is usually budgeted separately. "There are people who think that the first day of DLC development is the day after you launched," said Fergusson. "That's not the way it works. A lot of it is that you have to prepare and plan and manage your resources and your people and everything to allow for that."

Fergusson went on to argue that DLC, and presumably he means good DLC rather than the largely inconsequential stuff we've seen so far, is a preferable alternative to gated multiplayer systems, like EA's controversial Online Pass program. A carrot rather than a stick, if you will. "It's less about shipping what's left over. It's not about, 'Oh, we had this map left over'... it's keeping the disc in the tray," he said. "In a used game culture that you have to actively fight against, I think DLC is one of the ways that you do that."

Used game sales, a long standing part of the industry, seems to have replaced piracy as the industry boogeyman of choice, with numerous [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112949-Heavy-Rain-Dev-Says-Pre-Owned-Sales-Cost-it-Millions] developers [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110171-Fable-3-Dev-Used-Games-Sales-are-More-Problematic-Than-Piracy] blaming [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.125539-Realtime-CEO-Blames-Used-Games-for-Flat-Crackdown-Sales] them for poor, or lower than expected, game sales in recent years.

There is rather a lot of DLC [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/113764-Upcoming-Gears-Of-War-3-DLC-Puts-You-In-RAAMs-Boots] planned for Gears of War 3.

Source: CVG [http://www.computerandvideogames.com/319544/gears-of-war-3-campaign-dlc-confirmed-inspired-by-gta/]


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[El Luck]

Or...you make a game that people wouldn't want to trade in.

 

[IndianaJonny]

More critics wading in on used games; haters gonna hate.

 

[Kahunaburger]

Fingers crossed that the book industry never figures out a way to do this.

 

[gigastar]

When all is said and done i would rather have day one DLC than online passes.

And im someone who buys all his games all new and shiny, with cling film on them.

 

[Hisher]

How about we just start making games that are worth picking up day one instead of 6-12 months later?

 

[ph0b0s123]

"used game culture", you mean the games market and how it has worked since creation. Just making sure we understand each other. Let be honest about who is trying the change the rules of engagement in the games market, cause it ain't the consumer.

 

[4RM3D]

If games require a one time registration and activation (like all Steam games), you can't sell the game at all. That's more certainty than with day one DLC's... At least for the PC. However nowadays all game developers are focusing on console games. But thats a different topic.

I still disapprove of day one DLC's. Especially those that are released locally & exclusively. Store X has an exclusive for DLC X and store Y has an exclusive for DLC Y. Screw them, I want all the content.

 

[Sixcess]

Used game sales, a long standing part of the industry, seems to have replaced piracy as the industry boogeyman of choice, with numerous [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/112949-Heavy-Rain-Dev-Says-Pre-Owned-Sales-Cost-it-Millions] developers [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/110171-Fable-3-Dev-Used-Games-Sales-are-More-Problematic-Than-Piracy] blaming [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/7.125539-Realtime-CEO-Blames-Used-Games-for-Flat-Crackdown-Sales] them for poor, or lower than expected, game sales in recent years.

Here's a simpler solution to your woes, developers.

Make. Better. Games.

Also, isn't it just a little likely that people are less willing to buy games new since they know half the bloody content will be coming out as DLC over the ensuing 12 months and they'll have to pay for that on top of the new release price?

Yes, yes it is.

 

[Xanadu84]

You mean the culture of making games available to people who otherwise would never have bought them an thus has no effect on your bottom line whatsoever? THAT culture?

Do you honestly believe that the average consumer who would buy a game new, who comes into a store and sees that he can buy the exact same game for 10 bucks cheaper, would choose to pay 10 dollars more without any incentive whatsoever? If you do, I have a bridge to sell you.

 

[Fumbles]

Or...you make a game that people wouldn't want to trade in.

This... or lower prices for games.

 

[Dastardly]

snip

Surely we can understand why they would want to compete with used sales, right?

They're not calling it evil, they're just saying it's a factor in their business. These people are being forced to compete against an exact copy of their own product, and at prices lower than they could ever match -- if new games were $1, used games would be $.50.

I don't see them trying to make it illegal, but can't we at least recognize they have a valid reason for wanting to compete with the used market? Every other product tries to.

The common argument is they should, "Make games you don't want to trade in." This is just so crammed with (wrong) assumptions that it's ridiculous. I trade in games that I've loved, but really won't play through again because I've taken them as far as I care to. I loved Mass Effect 2, but I traded it in to help buy Skyrim. It's not a statement on the quality of Mass Effect 2, it was just time to move on. Additionally, anything they do to make the new game better will also just improve the used game... so they're still competing with the same product.

Try to see it from the other side. If it were cars, the "new car" guy could say, "Yeah, they're cheaper, but ours are NEWER, so they have more miles left in them." But what if that wasn't true. What if another company could buy back used cars and magically "rewind" them to 0.0 miles and offer them at half price? Now "new car guy" is forced to compete unfairly against his own product.

Yes, every used copy sold means a new one had to be sold in the first place. It's not a 1:1 problem. But is it wrong for developers and publishers to try to ensure that a new game has more value than a used one?

Arkham City did this with Catwoman, and I think it's brilliant. I bought it new, got to play that part of the game, just like if I buy a new car, I get to use those first few thousand "brand new" miles. If I trade it in, and someone else buys that used copy, they're not paying full price... and they're also not getting those "new miles," because they've already been -- that's right -- used.

 

[TokenRupee]

Instead of reallocating your team to work on day one DLC, make a good game and people will flock to it. Make it so good that people want to replay it and you won't see trade-ins instead of making half-assed campaigns only to feebly attempt to justify charging $60 for a game with single and multiplayer, the latter of which is abandoned when the next iteration comes out. Or you could lower the prices, but there is no reason to fight against the used game market. A market that has helped many a series become popular or has attracted followers for companies. A system that is born out of necessity because us poor people can't afford to buy every game brand new. Save the DLC for later on. Yes, it is better than online passes, but both are just taking away from what could be effort put toward making a great game.

 

[Zen Toombs]

While DLC and "day one DLC" can combat the "used game culture", they can also hurt sales in general due to upsetting their customers. The best way to take care of both issues is to simply make better games.

But that would take effort.

 

[Iron Mal]

Why is it so nessercary to 'combat' used games exactly?

Yes, it could be argued that it detracts from sales but seeing as this is coming from the developer who complained and got upset about their game recieving an 8/10 review I'm not very sympathetic.

I'm not sympathetic to this complaint about 'used games taking away sales' when there seems to be a severe lack of respect and trust in consumers from publishers and developers and it's not very hard to look at a lot of these anti-second hand measures as somewhat exploitative.

To me, all this stuff about the evils of second hand sales seem to be like childish whining and petty tanrtrum throwing.

 

[Frostbite3789]

Or...you make a game that people wouldn't want to trade in.

More or less impossible. People will trade in whatever game. I've seen this statement so many times, and it still makes not a lick of sense.