Please support Game Informer. Print magazine subscriptions are less than $2 per issue
Is It Fair To Charge For DLC That’s Already On Disc?
Earlier this week, Epic released The Horde Command Pack DLC for Gears of War 3, but it turns out that much of that content was already on the disc, and players just needed to download an unlocked. Is that fair? Epic thinks so.
"We're not saying that everything on the disc is the product," Gears 3 executive producer Rod Fergusson told Kotaku in a recent interview. "The disc is another delivery mechanism."
According to Fergusson, in an attempt to unify a game’s online community, game developers want all players to have access to new DLC content whether they pay for it or not. This makes DLC a trick proposition. The solution is that many developers provide new DLC to all players, but only allow those who paid for it to use the DLC weapon skins or host a new DLC map.
"One of the concerns was we would have to have people download compatibility packs,” explains Fergusson. However, since Gears of War was delayed from its original released date, earlier this Spring, Epic felt it had the option to include it’s first DLC pack on the disc, so that everyone wouldn’t have to download the new content. "We felt it was a win/win, because no one is going to have to download anything huge when the DLC comes out."
Fergusson also said that he thought that there was so much on the original Gears of War 3 disc that he didn’t feel like Epic was shorting players who didn’t want to buy the DLC. You can read more about Kotaku’s interview with Fergusson here.
I’d like to ask you to support Game Informer’s continued coverage of games with a subscription. For less than two dollars per issue, we mail you a full year of 10 print magazines, each with cover stories and preview features filled with exclusive details about the most exciting upcoming games. We profile and interview game creators. We look back on the rich history of gaming, and we celebrate what’s next.
Here on the website, we offer much of our content for free, including game reviews, daily news, videos, event coverage, and more – all with minimal ads.
We do so with a small editorial team, alongside contributing paid writers from around the world – over 65 individuals from 9 countries around the world, just in the last couple of years.
It’s not possible without support.
In a time when game makers and games coverage have faced hard struggles and layoffs, the future of this 30+ year magazine and community is at risk. Our new standalone magazine subscription is the number one way you can keep us alive – and we believe you’ll get a pretty fantastic gaming magazine in your mailbox every few weeks for your trouble.
Thank you.
