In a recent interview with GamesIndusty Chris Early, Vice-President of Digital Publishing at Ubisoft, claims that gamers have recently reduced their animosity towards downloadable content.
Early cites the Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flag ‘Time Saver’ packs DLC, like the Technology Pack which gives players the upgrades for their ship, as examples of DLC that have been received in a positive way. These packs do cost a lot, either $1 or $2, and do away with a lot of the collectible hunting aspects of the game that undoubtedly some players do not want to invest their time into. Early claims that there was ‘no resistance’ to these packs, going on to add ‘Maybe there were 12 guys somewhere who said something, but whatever. As a whole, there wasn’t a problem.’
Early stresses the importance of DLC being positively perceived by players. Undoubtedly many companies, like EA and Microsoft, are well aware of the problems and backlash that negative perceptions can bring in the age of the internet. Some astonishing examples of paid content have caused outrage in the past; perhaps the most memorable example being EA’s remake of Dungeon Keeper which was recently declared not ‘Free to Play’ by the UK Advertising Standards Authority. Early goes on to muse on the fine line that DLC must walk between being appealing enough to make players want to purchase it but not forcing in down the throat of the consumer, or making it seem like a necessity which must be obtained in order to fully enjoy the game. He said ‘Where it hurts is when you feel like you’re forced, or you’re at a disadvantage or can’t do it unless you [pay money]. That’s kind of a remorseful feeling, and nobody likes that.’
With this Ubisoft obviously feel like they have hit upon a sweet balance with DLC and will presumably keep to this policy for the foreseeable future. If a publisher can court the gaming public round to the idea of DLC then they would secure an obvious advantage over their competition. Hopefully other publishers will follow Ubisoft’s example and make DLC less intrusive in the future.
