Editorials

At What Point Is There Too Much DLC?

It seems like every developer these days adds DLC to their game but when is enough content enough?

From Lair of the Shadow Broker to cosmetic horse armor, there has been varying degrees of quality when it comes to DLC but is it all just too much? Now don’t get me wrong I have absolutely L O V E D some DLC, the aforementioned Lair of the Shadow Broker, RDR Undead Nightmare, and Blood and Wine from Witcher 3 to name a few but I am also just getting worn out with DLC.

For every Ballad of Gay Tony, there is a thousand garbage, poorly thought out, overly expensive, could have been in the game from the start pieces of trash that populate our online gaming stores., and it just wears you down after a while. Even some great DLC can still be damaging to the gaming community as a whole, like the upcoming Mortal Kombat 11, the game has already announced six whole DLC fighters to be added to the game, why are these fighters DLC in the first place? Why weren’t they just a part of the main game to begin with? While I can understand having big ideas for a game that don’t make it in just because of time constraints, already planning for an extra six fighters doesn’t feel like an idea that just needs a little TLC to become an addition designed to enhance a players experience, it begins to feel like a cash grab no matter how you look at it. Of course, there is nothing wrong for trying to get paid for your work but there is also something to be said about making your audience not feel like they are being scammed for content that reasonably should have been a part of what they paid for, and the blatant example of this is becoming more and more prevalent to the point that it leaves a bad taste in my mouth at even the thought of any DLC.

While Netherrealm Studios is far from the worst example it is the most relevant one, with the conspiracies of who will be in the main game and who will be DLC my question is why can’t we wait a little bit longer and get all of them at once without having to pay the extra money for each new character (sorry it’s Mortal Kombat, so it’s Khacater). While some may just dismiss my opinions as merely the ravings of a poor person, which isn’t exactly untrue, but what needs to be recognized is the impact this kind of behavior has on the gaming community as a whole. The argument could even be made that malicious practices like this are what caused the rise of microtransactions and the current toxicity that is plaguing games and gamers.

All of this is to say that while DLC may contain some of the greatest content known to gaming but when some of the best content makes way for some of the worst content should we keep supporting it? It’s a question that I cannot answer for you the reader, but it is something that you as a consumer must decide, and if you do it I may cost you some of the greatest moment ever put to disc.

Noah is an all-around nerd that likes everything from video games to anime and fights every day to do nothing but sit on his couch and watch movies.

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