There are often claims that video game publishers release their titles with on-disc content that gamers then have to pay to unlock. This seems to be the case with certain Capcom games, but the charge has been levied against companies like Electronic Arts, as well.
It's normal for studios to brainstorm DLC content before releasing their games, but rarely do they ever develop the actual content and put it on the disc for it to be unlocked by forcing gamers to pay for it.
Speaking on behalf of his company, EA's Peter Moore dismissed these charges as conspiracy theories.
"A lot of [fan] resistance comes from the erroneous belief that somehow companies will ship a game incomplete, and then try to sell you stuff they have already made and held back. Nonsense," Moore said in an interview with GameSpot.
"My desk in the office is about fifty feet away from Visceral, and it's a hive of activity developing extra content for Battlefield Hardline. You come and stand where I am, and you see the work that is being done right now. And it's not just DLC, this is free updates and ongoing balance changes."
Moore explained that when players sometimes discover hidden areas in games that later turn into expansion or DLC content, it isn't because the content was already developed for the game only to be unlocked later. He says that gamers need to think of games as APIs, and that certain things have to be done from a technical perspective.
"Knowing down the road that something needs to sit on what you've already made, means you have to put some foundations down. What people are confused about is they think DLC is secretly on the disc, and that it's somehow unlocked when we say."
He added that developing post-release content wasn't some small feat. It is a major undertaking for most studios, often with full development teams toiling away on them.
Moore also touched upon the topic of Star Wars: Battlefront elsewhere in his interview.
