# DICE has “a Massive Plan in Place” for Battlefield 3 Downloadable Content



## Ares (Nov 23, 2009)

*DICE has “a Massive Plan in Place” for Battlefield 3 Downloadable Content*
Written by Alex Osborn










In order for a multiplayer-based shooter to survive in this industry, it has to have legs that give the online experience longevity months after the game’s release. DLC is currently the best and most popular way to support a title and add additional value to the game post release, and DICE plans on delivering big time on this front with _Battlefield 3_.

Lars Gustavsson, creative director at DICE told MVC in an interview that they’re pulling out all the stops to deliver some compelling downloadable content for their upcoming shooter._We’ve completely restructured our studio around it. Nowadays, we have operations team who looks at the title when it starts getting closer to launch (or long before) with potential downloadable content and so on, to really have a plan. Otherwise you’re quite likely to start slipping. If you’re focusing just before release on what you’re going to ship post-launch, then I think you have problems._
_So, yes there is a massive plan in place._​Look for _Battlefield 3_ in stores when it launches later this month.

Source: PSLS


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## Ares (Nov 23, 2009)

The game isn't out yet and already talking about DLC. :gah:


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## Moonfly (Aug 1, 2008)

Yep, gets my goat as well. Forza 4 already has the next 12 months of DLC ready and available to buy in bulk at discount, and you get it when its released. Games used to get released on PC and come with an expansion maybe a year later for half the cost of the original game, but it would be a massive expansion that had obviously taken the additional 12 months to produce. Mean while console gamers pay more for the original game, and get a 'sequel' a year or so later, for full price, which is nothing more than more maps, an additional story mode, and some tweaks, but basically the same experience. Now devs are taking it a step further. They plan and drip feed small expansions of a couple additional maps and weapons for 25% of the cost of the new game (equal to the price of massive PC title expansions), and release four or five over a year of so, basically doubling the price of the original title. Then the true sequel come out a couple years later instead, which is nothing more than the slight upgrade I spoke about earlier. With the addition of online codes, and some games now being subscription based, developers have never been able to make so much money from games, yet they all still cry poverty. Micro transactions is obviously where everything is going, because businesses know that people tend to not really think about small payments, and ignore the big picture.

I think we both know that most people wont care though, and the trend will continue, especially with kids whose parents arent looking at what the 'pocket money' is going on. Unfortunately, that means the likes of me and you, the guys that helped make the gaming industry what it is today by gaming years ago before it was so mainstream, have to just suck it up and get over the fact that no matter what, we are going to just have to pay more for our games. To compound matters even more, consoles dont get the luxury of map editors and user generated content like PC users, because the consoles are all on closed systems and the people in control dont want to give us any control over our experiences, they want to keep it all and keep charging us for it.

Maybe if they focused on the game before release, we wouldnt see so many buggy games these days. Then after release they should work on DLC and it actually would be additional content.


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## Ares (Nov 23, 2009)

I did read part of a an article on Forza 4 having DLC lined up for the next twelve months after it's release and to be honest I stopped reading it because it turned my stomach. Don't know how many years you have put in Dan but I'm close to thirty years doing this as a hobby and this trend of DLC is truly disappointing. I don't want those that read this to think I hate all DLC I don't but what I do hate is useless DLC IE Characters, Weapons, and Clothing. These types of DLC irk me to know end I remember a time when you had to "grind" a game to get those things, quick note for you youngsters to grind a game means to work at it.

Maybe I have been in to long it might be time to bronze my controller, I had a discussion with a long time gaming buddy the other day about game prices. This is what he said to me " game price are not all that bad they have stayed within the $50-$60 range from last generation to this one", had to tell him that there is a difference between the prices of last gen and this gen you have to factor in the cost of DLC. I can here some guys in the background saying it's optional while true, not many are willing to be left behind by their peers and opt to buy it since it cost so little next to the base price of the game.

So truth be told once you factor in the DLC your actual cost of the game can be from $65-$90 so yeah the prices have gone up, and devs make a killing on DLC since it requires so little to produce it. The genie is out of the bottle now and as long as people are willing to pay for lame DLC dev will keep pushing it.


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## Moonfly (Aug 1, 2008)

Well I reckon I have 20 plus years of solid gaming behind me. I have played on the machines from the first consoles though, so even though I wasnt gaming in the seventies or early 80's as I either was too young or not made yet, I have followed gaming and played the machines since they were invented. I consider myself as experienced as you can be having played a good 75% of everything the industry has produced more or less, even some more forgotten efforts like the Phillips CDi.

I agree, the industry has found a way to put its prices up without actually putting its prices up, and in a way thats seemingly been pretty covert for the most part. I suppose you could argue in their defence, in so much as DLC is entirely optional, and the base price of games has changed little in probably 20 years. They do take much more effort to produce but to counter that argument, the market is massively bigger than it was 20 or even 10 years ago, so the rewards have been massively increased as a result. That alone I think is what has kept baseline prices fairly constant, and at some point the momentum has to reach terminal velocity. DLC is helping to provide more income, and I kind of understand why as a business the devs would pursue that model. What gets me is that most DLC seems to be ready with the main game, meaning its not additional content, they have chopped up the game to screw us out of more money.

One other things that is annoying me with console models, is that the nature of the closed systems mean the community is essentially intentionally blocked from creating any content of their own. The companies who own the platforms, the developers, and the publishers, are all working together to prevent users from having any of the usual access PC gamers enjoy, so they can drip feed small amounts of content and charge for it. That is very controlling IMO almost to the point of attempted monopolization.

All that said, consumers seem happy to go along with the trend for the most parts. Games are still IMO the best VFM for of entertainment money can buy period, so there is something there to maybe show things are balanced at this point,but it does feel like we are being used a little bit, and the industry is feeling out exactly how much they can abuse consumers. I fear things will get worse and worse to the point there is a pretty big revolt somewhere, and the industry is testing the waters so as not to do themselves out of potential profit increases.


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