Infinity Ward Hasn't Begun Development on MW2 DLC

[John Funk]

Infinity Ward Hasn't Begun Development on MW2 DLC

Worried that Modern Warfare 2 developer Infinity Ward is holding content back from the game for the recently-announced DLC map pack? Worry no more - apparently, the developers "haven't even begun thinking" about it yet.

When we first reported [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/news/view/95132-First-Modern-Warfare-2-Map-Pack-Planned-for-Spring-2010] that the Monster Modern Warfare 2 map pack was being planned for Spring 2010, there were some who took the news as indication that the proverbial sky was falling. Clearly, Infinity Ward had already made all these maps, and the company was just going to withhold them from the final product in hopes of making some more money, right? How greedy of them!

When an angry ex-fan posted similar sentiment on the official Infinity Ward forums, lambasting the developers for "not providing the full content of the game," community manager Fourzerotwo responded [http://forums.infinityward.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=112036&p=2188754#p2188754]:

"I think you might be confused by that. We haven't even begun thinking about what our DLC will be, Let alone finish any.

NO DLC will begin development until the entire game is finished and certified."

Of course, given that CoD: Mewtwo comes out in November and at the earliest, "Spring 2010" means March, cooler heads might have logically worked out that this four-month period would probably be used for designing, building, and testing the maps in question. So this really shouldn't come as a surprise.

For everyone else, though, here you go. Assuming the man's telling the truth (and I can't see any concrete reason to doubt him), everybody can stop playing Chicken Little. Capice? Good.

(Via VG247 [http://www.vg247.com/2009/10/02/infinity-ward-development-on-mw2-dlc-hasnt-even-begun/]

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[Eagle Est1986]

I love it when people jump to conclusions, that really shouldn't have needed clarifying.

 

[scotth266]

This pretty much goes for all types of DLC. The only reason that some people are raging like this is because of Capcom and the Vs. mode DLC fiasco for Resident Evil 5.

 

[silverbullet1989]

well there not going to turn round n say "yes we are with holding the maps from the final game! ha haa! "

 

[Valiance]

CoD: Mewtwo

...

CoD: Mewtwo

CoD: Mewtwo

CoD: Mewtwo

...



I think you just made the game 100x better than I thought it would be.

That's a side note, by the way.

My on-topic reply is "Good, I'd hope so, ffs." I mean, I know even Blizzard, who is really focused on Starcraft 2 being an "epic" experience (for the consumers and their wallets), isn't gonna work on the expansions until at after the game ships, lol.

I would assume Infinity Ward would at least wait and see what type of maps are popular, interesting, etc. before working on new ones that they have no idea if people will like or not.

 

[TheHitcher]

Why should they have started DLC? The game isn't even out yet...

 

[Wandrecanada]

Why should they have started DLC? The game isn't even out yet...

DLC is often something that devs were thinking of adding but didn't have the budget for. Once money starts rolling in from the game itself they can use that for development of ideas that didn't make the cut for release. Hence DLC that had been worked on prior to release.

Weather or not CoD: Mewtwo (lol) makes DLC from that particular methodology it means that it would not have been slated for the disk release anyways.

 

[ae86gamer]

Woo! The DLC might come out during March, AKA my birthday! ^_^

 

[SomethingUnrelated]

This is good. At least they're trying not to eat out our wallets

 

[Therumancer]

IMO the intended role of DLC of this sort was to provide expansion packs like "Forge Of Virtue" or "The Silver Seed" (Ultima 7 referances, some of the first X-pacs ever) cheaply due to not needing to put them on disk, advertise in magazines and such, and then ship them.

In reality DLC has become a gimmick by which developers have exploited the system to overcharge for minor upgrades, or even simply unlock content that is already included on a disc at the time of release.

Like it or not "planning for DLC" is part of the design process right now, and the bottom line is figuring out how much they can potentially squeeze your average gamer for with a given release. If something could potentially be sold for more money down the line, then there is no incentive for them to include it in the base package. As a result games are rapidly becomeing extremely "bare bones" packages for the base $60 compared to what they have been in the past... and yes I think the gaming companies deserve to be called on it.

Multiplayer maps are a good example of what people will buy, and frankly there is no incentive in the current game industry (where companies try and avoid directly competing with each other so as to keep prices high by avoiding undercutting or directly outperforming the competition) to release the best package possible. It makes sound business sense to release the minimum number of multiplayer maps and modes, with the intent of releasing others (playtested as part of the overall development process) for another $10 down the road especially if you made them with original dev funds.


So, I do kind of agree with the critic here, especially if "you" guys here at The Escapist reported on this and felt it was accurate when you did.

What's more I think gamers need to be more critical of the game industry as a whole. DLC and indeed the entire "Digital Download" concept is NOT doing what was promised from our end. What's more this price fixing and stuff is something that we as gamers should be actively seeking to pressure to stop, especially after the universal $10 price hike a few years ago. If they had been gas companies Uncle Sam would have been all over them (it's just gaming is so far too small to get attention, especially since nobody is really complaining about this in any meaningful way). Basically things are not going to change as long as we let this go unopposed.

Speaking for myself, I had no desire to buy MW2. I didn't buy the first one either. I'm not THAT big of a shooter fan. However I would suggest fans do their own research, and frankly if they wind up thinking "chicken little" is right, I recommend not buying the product OR it's DLC, despite the inclusion of "functional nightvision goggles". In a year or so when they release MW3, or whatever other game, they might not try and gouge you then.

On a side note, I myself an somewhat peeved with the industry because their unofficial policies on price fixing and avoiding competition seem to have lead to a lot of this year's biggest releases being pushed into next year to avoid competing with MW2. IMO the intended response in the American capitolist enviroment is for the competing products to increase quality while lowering prices as far as they can to try and outdo each other. That doesn't happen with the gaming industry, which I see as being a big part of the problem.

MW2 is not some unique "Godzilla" product, it's actually fairly typical of how things work nowadays. I doubt anyone will listen, but this seems like a reasonable place to draw the line.

See, all "chicken little" comments aside, even if The Escapist was incorrect originally, how many times has this happened already (with DLC maps and such)? Trust me, even if they didn't annouce it, I can virtually guarantee that is exactly what they are doing. That's simply how things work nowadays due to the fact that consumers have let them get away with it before.

Forget being greedy and evil, with the current precedent, they would have to be STUPID to be doing things any other way since other companies have been getting away with the same exact thing.


Feel free to disagree, these are simply my thoughts.

>>>----Therumancer--->

 

[DrunkWithPower]

Meh, I could care less if they did have it completed yet or not. I know there is money to be made that way and I'm content with it.

 

[Hexenwolf]

-snip-

I generally agree with your post, though have a much less impassioned stance (i'm not quite so cynical), but I would like to point out something about your last statement.

Valve is stupid eh?

 

[Z of the Na'vi]

Ehh......

I can wait for it

 

[TheHitcher]

Why should they have started DLC? The game isn't even out yet...

DLC is often something that devs were thinking of adding but didn't have the budget for. Once money starts rolling in from the game itself they can use that for development of ideas that didn't make the cut for release. Hence DLC that had been worked on prior to release.

Weather or not CoD: Mewtwo (lol) makes DLC from that particular methodology it means that it would not have been slated for the disk release anyways.

CoD: Mewtwo does sound awesome. But what does it entail? Or are we not meant to know anything about it yet?

 

[liquidus118]

Ha, haha, hahaha.
Of course they have plans for dlc! You think that they wouldn't already be thinking about new ways of teasing money out of us after jacking up the price by 10-20%?

MW2 will be insanely popular and sell insanely well, I know it, you know, IW know it. So of course with that many people who will be addicted to the online they're going to have plans to make new maps or weapons or whatever because they know people will buy it and they know it will make lots and lots of money.

And in the end they don't give a toss about the game, or at least the people who give them cheques every month don't, they care about money. DLC = Money.

They have plans for it, there will be plenty of dlc.

 

[QuirkyTambourine]

I just want the game to get here.

And I lol'd at COD: MewTwo

 

[Therumancer]

-snip-

I generally agree with your post, though have a much less impassioned stance (i'm not quite so cynical), but I would like to point out something about your last statement.

Valve is stupid eh?

To be brutally honest with you, even though I don't really get into the whole FPS thing very much, I used to have a ton of respect for Valve. I ran out and bought "The Orange Box" like many people, and have a link to my favorite typography of "Still Alive" on Youtube on my favorites.

However as time goes on, I am having increasingly less respect for them. Largely because the stuff they are getting criticized for are things that I thought Valve was above for some silly reason. Also I figured (on another subject) that if any game company was going to tell the Aussies where to stick it on their censorship policies it was going to be Valve.

 

[Xanadu84]

However as time goes on, I am having increasingly less respect for them. Largely because the stuff they are getting criticized for are things that I thought Valve was above for some silly reason. Also I figured (on another subject) that if any game company was going to tell the Aussies where to stick it on their censorship policies it was going to be Valve.

What has Valve done that they should be above? Outside of the silly L4D boycott, which has been pretty much debunked with new DLC and new planned DLC, and a long waiting period for Episode 3 (and long development cycles arn't exactly new to Valve), I can't think of anything Valve has done worth losing respect over. And what would Valve do in regards to Australias censorship?

Valve: Up yours you Australian censors!
Australian government: That's nice ::Makes note to ban every following Valve game.
Valve: Well shoot.

Gabe said he was dissapointed and disagrees. There's really not much more they can do, unless he's been hiding some serious influence within Australian government for some reason.