Downloadable Content. It's the wave of the video gaming future. We may be seeing a new era in how video games are enjoyed, or we could just be simply seeing a fad. We may be seeing a new way in which video games are given to the general public, or we could just be seeing a test run.
Personally, now that I can download demos of games, there is no reason for me to ever go to blockbuster anymore and rent games for 7 dollars a pop for five days. Gamefly and Gameznflix still have merit in my eyes, but the days of blockbuster game rentals are pretty much over, for me at least.
But the intriguing question is not how the consumers will push toward, or pull away from DLC. The musing I have is how will developers treat DLC. I'm looking at this in two ways.
One way is that the developer will make the best possible game, every time. And to enhance their experience a month, two months, a year after the game is released, they release extra DLC for an already exceptional game. Either they will charge, or give it to you for free, but the bottom line is total customer satisfaction with the game.
The more pessimistic and worrisome viewpoint that makes me think twice about DLC is the fact that developers and publishers might just look out for themselves. DLC can be a slippery slope if developers start to realize they don't need to make the best game, the first time. You might be asking, "Jeremy, now why would developers do that? Why would they purposely slack on a game?"
I'm not necessarily saying they will say, "Ok we are going to just put it out as is and see what happens." But I am saying that after a while, certain aspects of work, or not working, start to creep in if something becomes the norm. Let me explain.
If you know, at your job, that you are allowed to make more than one mistake, you aren't going to try as hard to get it right the first time over time. The key is not that they know they can screw up once and be ok, but they may unconsciously be realizing that the future is inviting their mistakes because it can easily be fixed with a software update or DLC for an entirely new feature.
Please understand, I'm not saying people will purposely slack, but when you get used to a certain way of working over a prolonged period of time, sometimes not giving it your all in terms of creativity, making sure the game doesn't have bugs, and putting all you can put into it becomes the norm.
Furthermore this scares me that publishers may purposely, purposely, tell developers (I can see EA doing this easily) not to put in certain content so that people can pay for it later. I don't know about you but when I pay $60 for a game I want to know that the developer put everything they could put in the game by making it the best it could be. I don't want them holding out on certain content that they know the general public will pay five extra dollars for.
My point is, I don't want the consumer to be ripped off. I want game publishers and developers to always have the idea that they want to give gamers the best possible experience the first time the game comes out. I don't want a publisher or developer to hold back on a game just because they know they can add content later, or fix bugs in the future with software updates.
It is not beyond me to say that developers won't make mistakes and that there will be aspects of a game that need to be updated. This is perfectly fine, I just don't want developers to have it in the back of their minds that they can always 'fix the problem later' because of DLC and software updates.
The optimistic side of me says that this won't be an issue, but I have a huge reality check on how businesses work. The point is to make the most money without spending a lot of time on labor. DLC could be their golden ticket. Besides, we as the consumer won't know the difference between held back content and legit DLC, will we (sarcasm).
I'm a gamer, and if you are reading this blog you are probably a gamer. I support games and the people that make them, I just don't want them taking advantage of us. Just be aware.
-Jeremy aka Adridius
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