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

[Caiphus]

Depends on the size, quality and price of the DLC. I mean, I bought pretty much all of the Mass Effect DLC, and that improved the life of the games for me, especially for ME3 where the DLC was actually better than the base game.

I would, of course, much prefer that they actually release mod tools for their games so that we could do it ourselves. But then I guess they couldn't make any more money. God damn.

Edit: And it's not like mods preclude the purchase of DLC. Bethesda still released a ton of it for Oblivion, Skyrim and Fallout 3.

So release mod tools. Jesus.

 

[BrownGaijin]

I think the next time that EA admits that's it's fallen short and will try harder next time, we need to start a betting pool on how many days it will take for someone from EA to say something stupid.

 

[Shim3d]

Yeah because it's not like Final Fantasy series for example had 12 games, some of which are pretty much considered timeless classics universally before DLC was even a thing.

 

[duchaked]

on the occasions when I'm actually waiting for a sequel (rarely for a franchise with yearly releases) I just...idk play other games? xD

 

[Norix596]

Think you're putting the cart before the horse there, if people had been losing interest they're not going to pay for more.

 

[Strazdas]

If you made a full and replayable games, then players wouldnt be putting them down "After 5 weeks".
I have played Morrowind for 10 months till i got fully satisfied with it (and that does not include expansions, i still havent played those actually). Crysis? one weekend and off to collect dust it goes.
The key to player loyalty and keeping attention are GOOD GAMES, not selling contentn in episodic order.

 

[PsiCoRe]

That argument would be valid if games didn't have a lifecycle of less than 12 months. Despite all the miniscule expensive DLC's that Battlefield 3 had it only lasted 2 years and this is meant to be a competitive online shooter. Pro gamers haven't yet hit their stride in Battlefield 3 before they moved onto the next thing. There were at least another 2 years of life in Battlefield 3. Plenty of time for more DLC's and maybe even a mega DLC (We used to call them expansions which sold for the price as DLC's cost today). Much of the development cost in DLC development goes into marketing a game that it's target market is already playing and quite aware of. Yes, DLC does keep the game going, but that's not the driving force behind EA. It's greed and decadent over spending.

 

[GamerAddict7796]

DLC like Citadel for ME3 is good. DLC like Dead Money for F:NV is good.

DLC like the alternate character skins for ME2 is bad.

It's not rocket science.

 

[Denamic]

Yes, DLC keeps a game interesting. I wouldn't play TF2 if it was the same game it was when it released. All that content that I paid 0 dollars for kept it interesting.

 

[Spiridion]

Here's how it works: If a game is fun and engaging I will pay attention to the development of and likely buy its sequels if they also appear to be fun and engaging.

If DLC is interesting and feels worthwhile (Lair of the Shadow Broker for Mass Effect 2 is a prime example) then it certainly won't diminish my feelings of goodwill towards a franchise, but DLC that's churned out because its "expected" will likely speed my disillusionment with said franchise, more than anything.

 

[MeChaNiZ3D]

Is that so? I wonder what people did back in the days where sequels took more than one fucking year less a month or two to make and there WASN'T any DLC. Complete bullshit, see me in my office for a stern talking to.

EDIT: Although, if you're talking about keeping people playing a single game continuously until the next sequel in the series comes out, that is far from going to happen for the majority of the population ever and you should be ashamed for attempting it. It's not so bad that people play games you didn't make once in a while.

 

[gyrobot_v1legacy]

I remember the days we call them docs and for the record i didn't mind much with some dlcs. It was either that or a 6 month exp pack.