The Implications of DLC @ IndustryGamers

An interesting piece at IndustryGamers examines the profitability and implications of DLC. The numbers are probably up for argument but it's an intersting topic for industry watchers:

As we can observe, what makes PDLC a lucrative product is not necessarily the volume it pushes, but rather the minimal expenses and time it takes to create PDLC. In fact, when you break down the monthly profits, PDLC provides a better return on investment than a physical title. (Noting that our model assume 1 month of full development, when in actuality, the entire development team is not needed to produce an expansion pack and can likely be done in 2 months at half the monthly costs. Nonetheless, the costs remain the same).

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More information.

Because of the tendency of DLC to add content to the existing game/campaign, as opposed tacking onto the end of a game or being separate - which most expansions tend to do, although some, such as Die Nacht des Raben, do not - I tend to hold off purchasing such games until all the DLC is available and I can get the benefit on my first playthrough. I wonder if a significant number of others do the same, which would lower initial sales figures.

Mass Effect's DLC was one I never bothered with, simply because I had already finished the came and didn't want to revert to an earlier save just for the DLC.

Fallout 3, with Broken Steel and Point Lookout, was more like a DLC should be. I didn't feel F3 was terrible, but it lacked in challenge and content, something that those DLC's actually have to offer. Should I be forced to pay more? Well, if I consider the price for the vast majority of games on the market, I get a hell of a lot more from F3 with the DLC's, than with most other games out there atm.

Guhndahb said:

- I tend to hold off purchasing such games until all the DLC is available and I can get the benefit on my first playthrough. I wonder if a significant number of others do the same, which would lower initial sales figures.

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Same here, which is exactly why I still haven't fully played through Fallout 3 yet.

I also feel that the release of only a couple of DLCs on a retail disc, like what they're doing with FO3, is incredibly dumb. There's no way in hell I'm going to pay $20 each for 3 different discs just to get all the DLC, when a Fallout 3 GotY Edition is right around the corner for $49.99.

One of my co-workers will never torrent a game, but he always torrents the downloadable content. He thinks the DLC name is the funniest thing in the world. I'm like JDR, I either wait to buy the whole game when it's all finally released or I just skip the DLC stuff til it hits the bargain bins. I'm not THAT anxious to play it. When they bundle them up, I'll buy. I'll also scan ebay a few weeks after they've been released. I've picked up a few on the cheap that way.

I also want everything complete - for example I'm still waiting for a version of THe SIMs 1 which contains EVERYTHING. There exists an English version of that, but not for the German market.

I also rather wait until the "DLC-phase" is completed, and would rather buy everything in 1 box, then.

I will never buy DLC (unless of course it's part of a bundle for a game I haven't played). It's not that I wait until all DLC is released, I just couldn't care less! I usually play games once. If I'm interested in a game I will buy it at release, and probably finish it in the next 2-3 weeks. If DLC comes out 2 months later, by that time the game is most probably uninstalled and the box closed, never to be opened again.

Yeah, I usually ignore DLC too since I've already passed the game by that point and DLC's are too small and too "after the fact" to bother with them.

I'm never interested in any DLC, they are too small to bother with, especially if I have to pay for them and there are free and bigger/better mods made by fans. I never bought any DLC, except one - Knights of the Nine (and 5 other plugins that were included) to Oblivion and that was the last one.