chuckd21

Do you think that after a while, game companies should just "give up" on their DLC for games long since forgotten and just let people download it for free?

I'm playing The Godfather on the 360 right now and there's DLC for it that no one will ever buy at this point. Why not just us download it for free? Make news by doing so and maybe people will pick up a new copy of the game at retail or something.

DeanoBKN

I doubt we will ever see free DLC. What DLC is there for Godfather? I remember how you could pay for some time challenges, but is there any other content I missed?

mndtrp

I do wish the DLC would drop in price over a set period of time, similar to how the actual game prices usually drop.

maxfisher

On the one hand, it might help drive some late-stage sales for a titles that's about done moving copies, though I'm guessing it might spurn more purchases of used copies than new ones. On the other, I imagine far fewer people would cough up cash for DLC if they knew it'd eventually be free and give them a reason to revisit the game. Discounting seems like a reasonable compromise that could benefit the publishers.

edstein

It should drop in price just like the games themselves. But I don't see companies giving it away for free, ever. It's not really costing them anything but digital storage space. In a retail store, game boxes take up shelf space for new games thus they need to be priced to move for new inventory. You don't have that problem with digital media. Maybe they could do a 90% price drop "deal of the day" promotion.

foxdvd

I still laugh at the price they expect for the Stranglehold DLC.

Michael Corvin

Problem with that theory is that the games you are talking about have long since been removed from retail shelves.

fumanstan

I think there should be price drops, but I can see why they're not free. There are probably enough used game sales well after release where someone enjoys the game and still decides to buy the DLC.

FatTony

DLC that originally cost money will never be free. Temporary discounts? Maybe. But never free.

I think what we're more likely to see as time goes on is that a company will release a game and develop paid DLC that comes out over the course of the next few months to a year. Then, when the interest in the game tapers off, they release the "Special Edition" that includes all or some of the DLC. It's already happening with some games (Fallout 3 and Littlebigplanet on the PS3, off the top of my head), but I suspect it'll become more prevalent as the years go on, since it keeps the price of both versions of the game up for a little while longer.

Fallout 3 is a perfect example, since the GOTY edition is still selling for $60 at Best Buy while the regular version sits right next to it at $40. For a game that came out in October 2008, no matter how good it is, it should be in the $20-30 range by this point.

mhg83

Gears of war and Halo both had dlc that eventually became free. They were some map packs.

fumanstan

If the game is still selling, I don't see why a company would want to drop the price. See: Nintendo.

FatTony

Did not know that. Duly noted.

Except the version of the game that's still selling isn't necessarily the same version that came out a year ago. I think of it as being similar to the model of releasing DVDs, where they put out a disc with just the core content and then a few months/years later release a special edition to squeeze a few more bucks out of the movie/game.

(Also, I just saw that Amazon has a list price of $30 for the regular Fallout 3 edition, so apparently my example wasn't that "perfect" to begin with.)

boredsilly

I get why they charge for DLC, and if they routinely gave it away for free (after the game has been out for a while), they would run the risk of devaluing DLC in the eyes of some. You already have a certain sect of the community who waits for games to get marked down as deals of the week (like me).

msdmoney

I don't think the consoles are competing enough in the digital distribution space to aggressively market and push games and DLC with price wars. Once the focus switches from boxed copies to digital copies, I think you'll see more movement in pricing. Downloadable games and DLC are still an afterthough for the consoles this gen. They should be using the DLC to effectively extend the life of a game not just when the DLC is released, but over time with price drops to get it back in front of people. A lot of the DOTW sales on DLC on xbox live is too little too late IMO, they are missing out on a lot of sales by keeping games or DLC priced too high.

I think it's also affected by the consoles being closed platforms. Once you buy a console, the manufacturer controls your entry into digital distribution. On an open platform like the PC you have a lot of competition for your dollar, and you have amazing sales for Steam, D2D, Impulse and GOG.