EA CEO: People Need DLC To Tide Them Over Between Releases

[rodneyy]

its probally not so much keeping them interested in a game as not letting the person spread their wings and try other games. if they keep them hooked and only playing one thing then its a natural progression to move onto the next game when it comes out. if however they play for a bit then go play other games they might find your game is lacking to some degree or other and then not come back when a new one is out as they have found more fun elsewhere.

 

[frobalt]

I'd love to see a credible source for his information. At the minute, it just seems like he's pulling this out of his arse to justify DLC.

It's funny though, because he's basically admitting that EA games aren't interesting enough on their own to be played for very long or to keep people interested in sequels.

What I do hate is his admission that development on DLC is created sometimes long before the game is actually released.

DLC should be stuff that is developed after the game is released that adds to the game.


Also worth noting: Borderlands 2 has had quite a bit of DLC, but I lost interest a while ago now due to how the game deals with difficulty. Bullet sponges are not even remotely fun to fight. Enemies should take the same amount of time to kill at any level, provided the player has up-to-date gear. In BL2 though, enemy health scales exponentially, so you're screwed if your gear isn't the best you can get.

 

[Erttheking]

I'm sorry, how is pokemon X and Y doing? Pretty good right? And how long has that franchise been running? Since the first gameboy right? And how much DLC does it have? None. So pardon me if I don't buy this statement made purely to support your business plan.

 

[Barbas]

They're going to start going through CEOs faster than Hogwarts went through Defense Against the Dark Arts teachers.

 

[Goliath100]

And how much DLC does [Pokemon] have?

At least one for every gen., skyrocketed in 3th gen., with possibly more coming for Volcanion, Hoopa, and Diancie and hopefully Pokemon Z(If Nintendo released it as another standalone I'm gonna be pissed, It really should just be DLC).Ok, a lot of it have been free, but it is still DLC.

 

[GodzillaGuy92]

ITT: People need to stop being armchair business experts. You wouldn't be armchair doctors about 'that's cancer!' to a picture so stop being bloody armchair analysts when you have absolutely no education nor knowledge on these topics. You can state your opinion, that's fine, but don't ever dare try to treat it as fact and anything close to reality without even remotely understanding what you're talking about. I bet most of you wouldn't even know what what EBIT or adverse selection mean.

Ah, the irony of decrying those offering coherent arguments and relevant examples for being arrogant "armchair experts" with no demonstrable knowledge on the subject at hand, even as you provide no such evidence of knowing better yet devote a whole post to making the claim that you do. And defend bad business practices in the process, to boot. Bravo.

 

[Wargamer]

Yeah, because EVERYONE lost interest in Sonic, Mario, Half Life, Metal Gear Solid, etc. without DLC to tide us over...

 

[Teoes]

It just goes to show how out of touch gamers (on this website, at least) are with the gaming industry! Clearly we know nothing about how to create and maintain healthy sales on a successful franchise.

There's me thinking that I preferred my games like my bowel movements: solid, whole, satisfying and over when they're over; not followed by a constant wet little dribble out of my bum that costs me money and doesn't let up until the next full movement comes along.

 

[Colt47]

Well, if people weren't constantly gambling their extra dollars on season passes we wouldn't have companies like EA wasting money on completely random, unconfirmed content updates. Seriously, Metro Last Light had some of the most random add-on packs ever in their season pass, and even the good DLC like the stuff for Bioshock Infinite is just not worth the price of entry. Especially when the said DLC pack is competing with new indie titles or games on a discount.

If a game is enjoyable enough that it can build a fan base and the company that made the game had the foresight to make it modifiable, those of us with development skills will likely make content for it anyway. DLC tends to come off as "we doubt our game is going to foster a good fan base, so we have to make the mod content to keep people interested." Not a good message in my mind.

 

[CardinalPiggles]

Hey, just like mods right? And you guys love and support modding right?

NOPE. Because mods don't make you any money. They do exactly the same thing as your crappy £5 DLC's and they're fucking free.

 

[Metalrocks]

partly i agree. but mainly for MP games were new maps are required. i have played mirrors edge so many times that i lost count. and guess what, i still play it and it has no DLC.
or even in BF3. i got the premium stuff, but i really feel like i threw out my money. i hardly find any servers anymore with the new maps.

 

[Chester Rabbit]

Ooooh yikes EA another point lost..hmmm yeah so far that Best Company of The Year Award is still looking pretty far out of reach for you.

Just give me a complete game, let the developer give it their all fill it to the brim with content and then just leave us to marinate.

DLC can be nice but I hate when it feels necessary.

There was a day when Map Packs weren?t a sure thing and we just got a nice hand full of well thought out, well designed aesthetically interesting (okay maybe not all the time) maps.
Or where every side quest actually made it into the game and wasn?t put on a board and voted as ?DLC for laters?

 

[Slash2x]

I agree 100% we do need DLC... If it has been 1 to 2 years after the game came out and there is nothing new in the works for a new or better version of the game. If your DLC is released in the same year as the original game you are full of shit.

 

[likalaruku]

I don't like buying bits & pieces at a time. What's wrong with releasing an expansion pack every 6-12 months? Personally, I wai till a GOTY edition is released; all the DLC is usually included. & if it's not, then f**k it; I can probably find a mod replacement that's better anyway.

EA-Halts-Work-on-Battlefield-4-DLC until the game's most glaring bugs have been fixed.

Well, it's no fun if they remove the bugs that don't crash the game. We wouldn't want to miss out on more of this:

Spoiler

Or these:

Spoiler

 

[Vivi22]

EA CEO Andrew Wilson believes that people lose interest in franchises if they don't have a steady stream of DLC.

This is not a thing that has ever happened in history.

Franchise fatigue, on the other hand, is.

 

[mirage202]

If by people he means those that exclusively play FPS, racing or sports games that can get repetitive quickly then yes, sure.

If by people he means everyone then he is an idiot. I don't still play Total Annihilation, Supreme Commander, Rome Total War, Just Cause 2, Battlezone, Homeworld and many others to this day because of DLC. I play them because they are damned good games.

Perhaps Mr CEO if your company made damned good games first and then DLC for them, instead of annually regurgitating more pixels with season passes for the froth, you'd have more people sticking with a franchise.

 

[mechalynx]

1. I call bullshit. Some games, mostly centered around multiplayer, maybe. But not story based games. When I'm done with the game, it feels like a hassle to go back to it only for 2 hours, because I have a hard time immersing myself for one mission alone. Either make an expansion and charge cash accordingly or focus on the next title.

2. That man is so pretty. I almost wish I didn't despise EA as much as I do.

 

[Irridium]

If that's the case then how did they sell sequels so well before DLC was even a thing on consoles?