Pre-Release Made DLC Is Not Evil

Some people are getting uppity about DLC being developed during the development period of the main game. As reported here  Fake-on-disc-DLC is simply unacceptable

On a very tiny level you can see their point. If it was made during the development of the main game, and especially if it ends up on the release disc but locked, then it should be available for people to play as soon as they get the disc.

Erm…no. That’s completely wrong.

You’re not paying for the disc!!! You’re paying for the time and effort that was put into making the extra content that makes up the DLC. Money, time and resources have been put to the side to develop the DLC separate from the main game. It doesn’t matter when it gets developed. The DLC content costed extra. You’re going to have to pay for that extra content.

Let’s combat particular points in the argument: -

Bioshock 2 had DLC that was on the retail disc that is unlocked. So? Aren’t you happy about that? Now you don’t have to worry about the huge download size. It’s still new content that is separate from the main game and that extra work needs to be compensated for. Bioshock 2 is no less of a game without the DLC. You still got dozens of hours of content for your money. You’d have to be pretty bloody ungrateful to demand more for nothing.

Tomb Raider Underworld had DLC content that was levels that weren’t completed on time. Yes, and they had to be cut out because the resources weren’t available to make them. It happens on pretty much every game except Duke Nukem Forever. They’ll have been working bloody hard just to get what they could finished on time. The incomplete levels were later completed with extra time and effort. Extra time and effort that has to be compensated for.

Some DLC is just cheap shit made for a quick buck. That’s a different argument. You don’t have to buy that stupid little hat for your character. But some people do. So someone will be paid to make it.

Most of the money doesn’t go to the developers anyway. Yes, but some of it has to. No sales, no future work, no jobs. The balance between what developers, publishers and retailers take on are a different argument. But what you should know is that if there is DLC going to made, then a publisher will have to pay the developer more to make it.

But what is made during main development should stay in the main game? It doesn’t matter when the extra content is made. It’s still extra content. The main game isn’t having anything taken away from it. Say the game demanded 100 developers and 2 years to make. The DLC demanded 20 more developers and 6 months. They aren’t taking away 20 developers away from the main game for 6 months. That would screw over the game. The resources for the DLC are additional. They’re extra.

Everyone wants something for nothing. That’s why complainers about DLC are trying to pull a fast one. But when it boils down to it you’re paying for something that talented, hard-working people have slogged their guts out to deliver to you. If you don’t pay for it then those talented, hard-working people won’t have any work to slog over.