DLC is Why Your Game ONLY Costs $60

The recent controversy around Evolve and its copious amounts of additional paid downloadable content (DLC) means that this is a good as time as any to discuss the climate of video game prices, specifically of the AAA variety.

To recap, Evolve has launched to generally positive critical reception, a unique 4v1 concept that we've lusted for after watching Predator all those years ago. Many players do not enjoy it it because it is light on content, but we'll digress and use it as an example for this DLC discussion.

The user reaction? Not so glowing. A quick peek at Evolve's Steam page brings attention to dozens of customer reviews lambasting the game for its paid DLC, complaining that they're being pushed to spend even more money after paying the base price for the base game, which is the standard $60.

[DarkOcelet]

"So, what are players complaining about? Chiefly, paying for cosmetic items.
To be frank, this is hardly a new or alarming concept. Free-to-play games, like Dota 2 and League of Legends, have built their empires on the concept of paid cosmetic DLC. “Whales,” often wealthy individuals with money to throw around, support the rest of the community’s free access to the games that they enjoy. If other players want to buy a skin or two, they have that option too."

You just gave two examples of F2P games. That are actually amazing and doesnt even require you to pay money to win. And using cosmetics in those games to support the developer is OK because the game is already free!

This game, people already paid 60$. They already paid for the full game. So why the hell every one feels it is so light on content?

Its funny though, Skyrim Budget was roughly estimated at 85 million dollars. And it got back $1,290,000,000 in revenue. You know why? Because it had enough content to last you over 300 hours without dlc and it was 60$ and no one from the developers said it should cost more. This here doesn't even have enough content to worth 30$. I mean WTF!

Please stop defending this greedy blatant POS developer and publisher.

[M337ING]

It's difficult to compare Evolve, which requires much investment up front and is unproven, to Skyrim, which is a team of developers who are already quite familiar with how to develop their game and are then able to focus on content.

I think the crux of the article is not about Evolve, but about how paid DLC means we haven't seen a price increase for many years. Remember, games have cost $60 since 2005. That's remarkable when you consider inflation, and not even the rise of budgets.

[lipton101]

$60 is not much concerning the work that goes into these games and the budget required to make an AAA release. It takes a lot of people to make a game. Specially trained skilled people. These people are expensive to hire. They pay for their skills, this is not a time / labor for money type of job such as that with a cashier or stock associate. Games have become more expensive to make over time. Our dollar has devalued over that same time, while game prices have stayed relatively static over the past 10 years. $60 is not enough for one game. But the U.S. market won't support any higher, so say hello to DLC. DLC nowadays completes a game, it doesn't just supplement it as in the past. These studios need to market DLC to survive and recoup the massive costs involved in making a game. Source: MBA and logical thinking

[yewles1]

*spits out coke and laughs hysterically at the title*

The delusion is real... XD

[lipton101]

You're either uneducated or ignorant. Game development costs have went up dramatically. Game prices have stayed static over 10 years, and when adjusted for inflation, the cost of a game is now less than in 2006 (because the dollar is worth less than it was in the past). DLC completes games now, they're not just supplemental. You can whine all you want about the prices but there's no such thing as a free lunch pal

[yewles1]

BWAHAHAHAHA!!! Yeah, you must've had a part in this article. XD

[IIFloodyII]

My games in the UK cost 75-85 dollars, they also have DLC.
The reason your games are $60 is because the rest of us pay more, DLC has nothing to do with it.

[DemonChicken]

20% goes to the government in taxes - VAT

The reason we pay more is because of the government

[pompombrum]

This, our government shafts us on electronics tax, we always pay more sadly.

[starchild]

Exactly. It's unbelievable that some people don't understand this.

@ IIFloodyII

That's not true. That extra money goes to the government, not the developers.

[lipton101]

But what about other taxes? Do you guys also have federal, state and local income taxes? I took IB for my undergrad but I thought I remembered hearing at one time that your income taxes are lower and sales tax, or the Value Added Tax (VAT) in Europe, is higher to compensate to stabilize tax rates and limit loopholes across all income levels (screwing those less off in the process, but that's a different conversation.)

[IIFloodyII]

@DemonChicken and Starchild
The price has still increased over the last few years, it was £40-£45 for a game now it's £50-£55 some even go up to £60 (a little over 90$).

Oh and I was only using the UK as an example, it's even worse in places like Australia and most of Europe.

[Rimeskeem]

Why did games cost less and have no DLC 15-20 years ago then?

[GreetingsfromCanada]

Adjusted for inflation they cost around $90-$100.
Read all of it and learn oh ignorant one.
http://ca.ign.com/articles/...

[Griever]

You need to look beyond just inflation. Technology was much more expensive back then. Every piece of technology was more expensive in the 90s than it is today. It does not means they have to be the same price today or be even more expensive because of inflation. Things become cheaper as costs come down, market size increases and the then cutting-edge manufacturing processes become today's norm. Developers need to control their costs if they want to improve their profitability instead of ripping off customers. Why the hell are you defending them so vehemently? Would you be happier paying $100 for each game? You sure do not sound like a rational customer who looks for more bang for his buck.

[souldestroyer14]

Ignorant? He was asking a question.. Seeking knowledge. That's not ignorance and you're a jerk ;)

[pompombrum]

Inflation argument aside, it's not really comparable 15-20 years ago because game studios required a lot less people to create the games.

[Jubez187]

you dont think development costs have increased JUST a little bit since the 80s?

[uth11]

read the article. Game development budgets were much much lower back then

[acekaze]

People keep pushing for bigger games, better graphics, this costs money =p

[GreetingsfromCanada]

It's not just that but adjusted for inflation games are the cheapest they've ever been in the U.S

[dreamed]

But the games arnt any bigger or better than ps2 days,its just the marketing that has caused all this crap.

Most next gen games are remasters anyway.

[Jubez187]

Idk about bigger but we definitely have shorter prettier games. If you want an all-star voice cast, cutting edge graphics, etc etc you gotta pay for it. It's OUR fault cause we put some imaginary price ceiling on games. I've bought MANY games for 60 that I would have paid 70 or 80 for. It's all about value.

If we, as gamers, just got off our high horse then we could actually just pay for what they're WORTH to us and not get nickeled and dimed around every corner.

That being said, I hate buy to play. I think it's kinda toxic because it doesn't provide consistent streams of revenue, which means we don't consistent streams of updates and feedback. You better believe that DOTA and LOL update often. They NEEEEEEED you to keep playing. With 60 dollar games, you could slide the disk between your butt cheeks and the devs wouldn't care one bit.

When it's F2P and P2P you grab the devs by their balls. That's how it SHOULD be.

[uth11]

this exactly. People don't grasp this. Everyone assumes these devs are just rolling in the dough, but if that's the case, why are so many publishers/developers forced to close?

[styferion]

Nice try Turtle Rock Studio, The Witcher 3 with its hundreds of hours gameplay, huge world, insane detail, and SIXTEEN FREE DLCs says hi.

[tracyllrkn]

And they probably won't even make a profit.

[styferion]

lol thanks for the laugh,

Okay I get it, TRS is smart for coming up with these ways to make profit, and CDPR is just naive for taking stance against paid DLC like that, lol.

Now let's see if your so smart developer able to make bigger profit than CDPR, of which I and many others have already pre-ordered The Witcher 3.

[CocoWolfie]

so a game thats an open world, with free dlc content, and is one of the most anticipated of 2015 wont make a profit compared to... evolve. huh.

[CocoWolfie]

wolfenstein says hey too <3 and yeah also all those other games that do like $15 worth of dlc after launch, not over $100 day 1 B)

[Youngsta135]

You cant compare both of them for one thing witcher games is an already established ip with a big fan base already and evolve its new which means that 2k taking a bigger risk doing it and not only that making these new ip triple a games is expensive especially now in day also they also have to build a fan base since its a new ip which means advertising and that cost money

[AKissFromDaddy]

CD Projekt Red make money from GOG.com. That's why they can offer free DLC.

Like Valve, CD Projekt Red makes money selling other developers' games.

2K and TurtleRock Studios don't have that benefit to use as a crutch.

[Rachel_Alucard]

It's strange because turtle rocks older games like Counter strike and it's later releases didn't launch at the standard retail price tag when they released. Evolve is on par with content as a counter-strike game, yet it costs a full games price tag. They had no DLC locked behind paywalls and still all the maps and content was free. What the hell happened? Did 2K make retarded demands again?

[sizeofyou]

Witcher 3...s'all I can say...

[Edit - ooops...read article but not comments above...sorry. To incensed! :)]

[Mr-Dude]

Glad I didn't buy it then

[bellome]

This point is complete bullshit. In Europe PS4 games cost 80$. They can't ship a "full game" for more than 100$, it's ridiculous... Or better they can (because Evolve actually did) but i hope nobody buys these games.

[AKissFromDaddy]

$80 is €70.11. Using Belguim as an example, its monthly minimum wage is €1501.82 (€9.39 an hour) or $1713.40. Broken down into a 40 hour work week is $10.71. The US federal minimum wage is $7.25 an hour or $1160 a month. President Obama can't force our Congress to even raise minimum hourly wage to $10.10, even though the cost of living is about $15 an hour in urban cities, where most of my country's employment is located.

Most Europeans, in this case the people of Belgium, not only make more money per hour, but the value of the Euro is stronger than the US Dollar by 12%-14%, as of today, and it use to be around 20%-25% a couple of years ago.

[1nsomniac]

Idiot.

[TheNemesis501]

The Witcher 3 devs say other wise, there planing 5+ dlc packs and making them all free.

[Youngsta135]

You cant compare both of them for one thing witcher games is an already established ip with a fan big base already and evolve its new which means that 2k taking a bigger risk doing it and not only that making these new ip triple a games is expensive especially now in day also they also have to build a fan base since its a new ip which means advertising and that cost money

[sizeofyou]

One of the reasons I stopped buying Tiger Woods golf...release the game and then make £50-80 worth of DLC available on day 1. Shove that DLC where the virtual sun doesn't shine and lose faith for future releases - way to go... ...

[snookiegamer]

'DLC is Why Your Game ONLY Costs $60'?!? ....So 'We' should be grateful for DLC now?

Wonder how the Industry managed to sustain itself prior to Net Connected Consoles?

Argument is FLAWED, now Quit advocating this sham of a practice!

[Helloween13]

the game is crap and this article is crap and games shouldn't cost anymore than $40, but this game should be free as its that bad

[Mikelarry]

I am sorry but No, you want this nickle and diming stick to f2p model. Its like some ppl have lost their common sense supporting trend in gaming. Dlc Should be if i enjoyed your game enough and i want more but hiding cosmetic items behind a paywall, its sad to say this but i fear my gaming days will soon come to an abrupt end

[LOOK_AT_THIS_I]

I can appreciate the fact of the maps being free, my issue is the hundred dollars worth of dlc they threw up in the online store before people even had the game in hand. I think this is the ordeal that has pissed so many people off. A smarter strategy would have been to wait a week or two and trickle out content instead of a dam size release of content that was held from the game behind that gigantic paywall.

I would have got the game in a week or two but shadey practices like that really sour me anymore. Guess I will wait for gamefly to sell it for 12 bucks in a month.

[AKissFromDaddy]

"my issue is the hundred dollars worth of dlc they threw up in the online store before people even had the game in hand."

The cosmetic DLC totals $61. The $130 is a complete fabrication.

"A smarter strategy would have been to wait a week or two and trickle out content instead of a dam size release of content that was held from the game behind that gigantic paywall."

Gears of War 3 launched with $45 of weapon skins
Source: http://www.destructoid.com/...

The Last of Us Remastered had $151 worth of DLC seven days after its launched date. About $131 of that $151 was available on PSN one day, July 28th, before The Last of Us Remastered launched, July 29th.

"I would have got the game in a week or two but shadey practices like that really sour me anymore. Guess I will wait for gamefly to sell it for 12 bucks in a month."

Hope you don't like Batman. The Batman Arkham series offers up classic costumes you can buy but not use in the campaign until you’ve finished the story. Batman Arkham Knight has costume and pre-order DLC.

Hope you didn't like Mass Effect. Mass Effect 3's additional Day 1 DLC character is a flipping Promethean survivor. That's truly significant DLC.

Hope you didn't buy Asura's Wrath. The actual ending was sold as DLC. That was the worst DLC I ever bought, but it was a great ending. It literally was the actual ending for Asura's Wrath, lol.

Advanced Warfare has $116 worth of DLC on PSN as of today, including the Season Pass broken up. $132 on Xbox Live where one of the DLC is EXTRA CREATE A CLASS SLOTS for sale which increases the number of customizable Create-A-Class Slots with 50 Additional Slots for 60 slots in total.

Evolve does DLC right. ALL DLC Maps Are Free. Everyone Will Play Alongside Or Against DLC Hunters And Monsters. The Community is never fractured.

Your notion could be seen as equivalent to not buying a cell phone because the manufacturers made different color cases for it.

Do you get any of what I wrote? If you disagree, just quote where I'm mistaken and use a source.

[LOOK_AT_THIS_I]

Nice try. The cheerleader/DMG control in full force. I can tell by seeing the reflect and redirect . Justify your purchase all you would like. I don't like the fact that a shit ton of content could have been put into the game instead it was hidden behind the paywall and released the first day. If you accept the practice fine, you writing a thesis isn't going to change my opinion on any dev/game that does this garbage.

Source:my opinion. Furthermore just because other companies leave content outta their games in order to make a quick buck shouldn't make it acceptable. How many times are you gonna copy and paste the same thing in evolve comments sections?

[AKissFromDaddy]

"writing a thesis isn't going to change my opinion on any dev/game that does this garbage."

1st, I didn't write a thesis. I replied to your comment in detail, one part at a time.

2nd, I don't want to change your opinion. I'm testing how bias your opinion is applied to all games now or yet to be, like:

Batman AK's PS4 exclusive Scarecrow Nightmare Pack DLC, GameStop's Exclusive Pre-Order Red Hood Story Pack DLC & the general Pre-Order Harley Quinn DLC Character w/ exclusive challenge maps. 3 DLC that could be on disc, let alone excluding DLC from Xbox One.

Batman's full experience is to pre-order the PS4 version at Gamestop to get all the DLC, regardless if you have an XOne or PC & prefer buying after launch somewhere other than GameStop. Boycott AK for having a "shit ton of content" that "could have been put into the game", as you wrote it.

Likely easy for you to boycott.

Boycott The Order for its GameStop's Pre-Order Exclusive Knight's Endurance Pack which has the Desert Khaki Infiltration Field Uniform DLC, Endless Blackwater DLC that heals your wounds w/ the emphasis on "ENDLESS", Blacksight Regeneration DLC, & Knight's Arsenal Pre-Order DLC.

Boycott FF Type-0 HD for having FF XV Demo as Pre-Order DLC. This could have just been released.

Boycott Project CARS b/c of Pre-Order Modified Car Pack DLC that has 3 mod cars: Ruf, Pagani, & Ariel behind Pre-Order, until its released $.

Boycott DOA5: Last Round for GameStop's exclusive Pre-Order Ninja & Aloha Pack DLC that has 8 costumes in total for Ayane, Hayabusa, Hayate, Kasumi, Hitomi, & Mila.

Boycott MKX which has Goro as DLC. In fact, MKX will have many costume DLC.

Boycott Battlefield Hardline for having DLC in its $70 Deluxe Edition including Versatility Battlepack DLC, Precision Battlepack DLC & Suppression Battlepack DLC - all having unique assault rifles, weapon camos & XP boosts. The DLC is in the packaging, lol.

1st party games I know to have many Day 1 & Pre-Order DLC is Uncharted 4, Lara Croft & Halo 5.

Halo 4 has a ton of Pre-Order DLC that could have been on the disc.
Video of Pre-Order Armor DLC: https://www.youtube.com/wat...

MS sells the Armor & Weapon skins DLC alongside game modes for $.
Source: http://marketplace.xbox.com...

"just because other companies leave content outta their games in order to make a quick buck shouldn't make it acceptable."

100% understood,...just be consistent in boycotting & shunning out as vividly & openly as possible all games that do this, including the AAA games mentioned above, notably Batman w/ its console DLC, retailer DLC, & pre-order DLC.

"How many times are you gonna copy and paste the same thing in evolve comments sections?"

I copied less than 1/2 of my original comment, from page 2, in my reply to your criticism, which has more new text & examples by me of the same practices by other first & third publishers than my original.

My last bubble. Be consistent in your banning. There's an overwhelming # of AAA games that have many Pre-Order, Day 1, Retailer, & Console DLC that could be on disc.

I don't care if you never play Evolve. Not my intention. My intention is to see if your Ban Hammer is purposely bias or consistent. Kudos & good luck choosing what to boycott.

[Malice-Flare]

if that's the reasoning, you're an incompetent developer...

[StarLord_Who]

So if they don't make DLC, the price of the retail game goes up?

About as logical as a soup-sandwhich that theory well done.

[FPS_D3TH]

BS. Maybe publishers should stop trying to gold mine consumers based on ideas they feel should already be present in a base game? That'd be nice.

[sungam3d]

Double dipping wasn't enough for them.
They are now triple dipping...
•Buy the Game
•Buy the season pass (which is suppose to come with all DLC relased)
•Buy all the other DLC that did not come with the season pass for some reason.

Absolutely disgusting!

[Saijahn]

I don't mind DLC as long as it wasn't locked out of the initial game. Crap like skins is optional, but the stunt Bungie pulled with Destiny is what's wrong with DLC. The code was already written into the game.

[Jubez187]

So where should we go from here guys? Are we just going to come out and say that any game that can't be profitable at a 60 dollar price tag just shouldn't be made at all?

[Grave]

I'll buy Evolve when it's $20. That is the real value of this game to me.

[magiciandude]

"DLC is why gaming is sprinting back to the New Mexico landfill"

Fixed that for ya.

[T2X]

Actually, I remember trying to talk my parents into buying me Atari cartridges and Intellivision and Colecovision etc. And guess what? they were $30 buck plus tax and that wasn't exactly chicken feed back then even. Man, we could go to York Steak house restaurant at the mall and Thirty or Forty bucks would feed 4-5 people with dessert! So in my opinion, there was never anything remotely cheap about gaming ever. It was also very difficult to talk my parents into buying the early computer systems too as my folks didn't really understand what good they could be used for and called then electric typewriters. Not to mention, there was no internet and everything you heard was through word of mouth from other geeks you talked to. it was a very niche, rare hobby for a lot of people and tough to support until I was old enough to get a job. SO $60 now seems almost fair until you begin to add it the amount of money for the system ($400 + tax) High speed internet connections (My cable is UP there man ($80 for internet and another $130 for cable pack) and PS+ subs ($50) and the nice TV to watch it on (From $350 to what I spent $2400!) and all that. So, once again, we're not really even approaching cheap in any form. Yeah really cheap. Luckily, I'm a professional and thankfully employed adult. But I can younger people struggling with these prices. Just a thought. And BTW, my dad would have laughed me out of the house after seeing those prices!! LOL.

[SynestheticRoar]

Devolve at 60 dollors is a F-ing joke. Anyone who defend the madness can pay for mine DLC. Your a lolipop sucker anyway,I might as well use you to.

[AKissFromDaddy]

"Gears of War 3 launched with $45 of weapon skins"
Source: http://www.destructoid.com/...

The Last of Us Remastered had $151 worth of DLC seven days after its launched date.

"The Batman Arkham series offers up classic costumes you can buy but not use in the campaign until you’ve finished the story."

"When Evolve was released this week, it became a punching bag because of $61 of cosmetic offerings (a number that was widely misreported as more than $130). These reports touched off a wave of anger aimed at Turtle Rock Studios and 2K. But here is the reality. Evolve’s DLC does not impact gameplay. It is not Mass Effect’ 3s additional character."

I remember Mass Effect 3's additional character who is a flipping Promethean survivor, lol.

" It is not the actual ending of the game as was offered for Asura’s Wrath." That was the worst DLC I ever bought. It literally was the actual ending, lol.

Evolve does DLC right. ALL DLC Maps Are Free. Everyone Will Play Alongside Or Against DLC Hunters And Monsters. The Community is never fractured.

[N4GJD]

I remember when those Gears 3 weapons skins were going to be included with the purchase of the game; then it was decided they'd milk everyone's wallets instead.

[Sadist3]

Who the hell would pay over $100 for a video game? That bitch better be over 400 hours and have enough content to last me a year before I get bored of the game

[BattleAxe]

"DLC is Why Your Game ONLY Costs $60"

Wow.....just dumb.

[godslayer]

The game is like destiny it should cost $39 like plants vs zombies a mp only game , but pvsz has a ton of content and evolve is empty it is horrible how much it costs and you get nothing . Also what the hell the game is a disgrace it is random who wants play and be forced to play the medic or monster or the person you dont like , can you imagine if every mp game in battlefield or cod was a random gun every time you played you had no choice so you love LMGS but you keep getting shotguns LOL , this game is a disgrace and to release 4 pages worth of day 1 dlc cosmitic or not that is greed.

[N4GJD]

This is nothing less then pure greed. And it will only continue to get worse as people keep buying it regardless.

[PurpHerbison]

D.L.C.

It's in the game!

[A7XEric]

Apparently you sheep don't understand what inflation is.

These articles hit the nail on the head. One thing I think is hilarious is that this devs last game L4D was a super shallow experience but no one complained about that. If DLC is what will keep game prices what they are then I'm totally fine with that, so long as it isn't in a pay-to-win model like a lot of F2P games these days.

[mochachino]

This could be true, I remember when SNES games were $70 and that was a long time ago. Adjusted for inflation, games today are much much cheaper, despite having significantly larger budgets.

[GokuSolosAll]

No, it's ONLY $60 because we'll ONLY PAY $60. We the consumers call the shots here.