Sid Meier has seen a good chunk of my cash throughout both our lifetimes. Ever since the days of Pirates! on the NES, to the first Civilization games on the PC, to even now, I’ve been in love with everything this man has had a hand in. So when Civilization V hit the shelves, not only did I go to buy it instantly, but I even built a whole new gaming rig just to run it.
As excessive as that might have been, it should stand as a testament for how good a game like Civilization V is. This is the kind of game that is designed to be able to give players additional fresh content over and over. There have been countless DLC and expansions added to Civilization V, usually involving new scenarios and new civilizations to play with. Just recently, almost a year and a half after its initial release, Firaxis announced the release of a massive expansion pack called Gods & Kings which adds popular features from the previous installment of the Civilization series into Civilization V.
With all that in mind, it got me thinking about to when the idea of downloadable content was introduced as a widespread concept. As a PC gamer growing up, I was already familiar with expansions and additional content. This generation of consoles, coupled with internet that can actually handle downloads, ushered in an area where we could get instant gratification of new content for our games. I saw this as a way to make our old games fresh again, as well as a way to add amazing story plots into already spectacular game narratives.
DLC has become much more than that, for better or for worse. Downloadable Content has added some great content into games; Lair of the Shadow Broker for Mass Effect 2 for instance. That DLC not only added an amazing story arch featuring a beloved character from Mass Effect 1, but also included a nice perk into your game play. Yet someone could play the entire game without the DLC and never have known what they missed. The game was not reliant on this DLC story, nor was it a requirement. The same has held true for some other amazing pieces of DLC, such as the Broken Steel DLC for Fallout 3. This particular DLC adds an epilogue to the ending of that game, providing additional story, characters, and missions.
DLC has also been used for evil. Multiplayer First Person Shooter games have turned DLC into a cash grab of predictable multiplayer maps which make it extremely difficult to enjoy the game with friends unless you are willing to turn your $60 purchase into a $100 purchase. Likewise, games have been designed with the whole purpose of adding DLC into them later. Assassin's Creed 2 was the first game that I was bothered by for this. Had one played through the game before a single DLC pack was released, you noticed the memory sequence was missing a couple of digits in the numeric order. These missing missions were the DLC that was to eventually be released. While one could still enjoy the experience without this DLC it becomes glaringly apparent as you notice a numbered segment is missing. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning takes this one step further with the EA $10 system, where without the code packaged in brand new copies of the game, content that was on the disc is removed. Again, it isn’t crucial to the story, but its another perfect example of DLC gone wrong. What concerns me the most about all of these practices is that the vast majority of the public will still be trading these games back into GameStop 6 months after purchasing them despite the DLC. The downloadable add-ons do nothing to extend the life of the game, nor offer most players any real incentives to pick up some of these games months later due to any hype of additional content.
For any issues I may have with how some developers handle DLC, there have been plenty of developers that have handled DLC amazingly well. Again, going back to Civilization V, were looking at an enormous expansion to a game that came out September of 2010. Firaxis is adding a whole new dimension to an already amazing game. However, based on past Civilization expansions, along with the behavior of all the DLC for this installment of this franchise, it will not be a requirement for you to continue to play, nor will you be constantly reminded by the game that you are missing something (Though Steam might remind you of this…) The game manufacturer will still make a decent amount of money by releasing this expansion in this nature, especially since the base game is pretty affordable at the present. It’s about rewarding your player base, by offering them new content in the game, without guilting them or making it glaringly obvious that there is content that could be in the game.
Obviously, I can’t expect this cycle to change. Many of these series, who are guilty of what I consider the wrong way to handle DLC are selling copies of these games like hotcakes, with the DLC joining suit. There is nothing indicating that this trend will change either, save some sort of drastic economic collapse. Realistically, the best I can hope for is that one kid will listen to me ramble from my porch as I yell at them with “Back in my day…” stories. I have always been a firm believer in the philosophy that you tell companies what you think best with your dollar.
That being said, I still firmly believe that companies will do what, in my opinion, is the right way to handle DLC, by making it legitimately add to the life of the game. In the case of Civilization V, Firaxis could have easily moved on to whatever project they’re working on next, leaving Civ V to rot in the bargain bin. Instead, they create a whole new add-on package which not only allows them to generate revenue from the DLC, but possibly leads to new sales of the game as well, for those who caught wind of the game through the announcement for this new pack, or who was waiting for new features to be added in. The genius move by 2K Games and Firaxis with this new expansion for Civ V is that it allows this game to continue to be fresh, allows the company to continue to make sales, yet does not force the player into the uncomfortable situation of secretly making a game $100 just to enjoy it.
The reality is, were in some tough financial times right now, not just in the US but worldwide. Game sales overall have been down ever so slightly from what they once were. We’re seeing studios laying off numbers of people before a game even launches. Yet somehow, companies are expecting players to reach into their pockets for additional money after purchasing a game, without giving them much for it. Many companies release DLC, which often is planned well in advance of a game’s release date and often, no new DLC is released 6 to 9 months after the launch date. It’s good to see that games ( and gaming companies) are still willing to let us play a game that has been out for a bit and give it a face lift, but not shove it down our throats. I hope others will join me in saying “Good on you, Firaxis”
