"The fastest growing area of digital distribution -- and that includes subscriptions and microtransactions -- is downloadable content," Schappert said. "It's the extension of your current game through expansion packs and downloadable content."
GDC: EA's Schappert touts DLC as most profitable form of digital distribution
by Kevin Kelly 
on Mar 10th 2010 10:00PM
12
"The fastest growing area of digital distribution -- and that includes subscriptions and microtransactions -- is downloadable content," Schappert said. "It's the extension of your current game through expansion packs and downloadable content."
Reader Comments (12)
Posted: Mar 10th 2010 11:15PM The Aquacharger said
Yeah, but they also give away some DLC for free. Dante's Inferno major DLC was free.
Reply
Posted: Mar 11th 2010 12:24AM (Unverified) said
I'm not sure if you're going to understand this based on your vitrol; but I don't have any problem with the dlc that levels me up without having to put in 20 hours to get it.
Don't get me wrong... I could get those 20 hours, but it's going to take me 6 weeks to put in that time. I have other things that I have to take care of and I get limited time for my games.
I'm more than willing to put in a couple bucks so that I can be competitive online with certain games rather than trudging through losing all the time and slowly leveling myself up. Is it unbalanced? Yes, and they need to find a happy medium. Do I feel guilty for buying said things? Well, I feel kind of dirty at first, but it goes away quickly when you twits can't kill me as fast as you could before... (not to say I don't die all the time still, but at least I have a fighting chance)
And if you say it's too expensive, I counter with 'It wasn't made for you.' It was made for people like me who can justify this purchase as, 'I paid for this as I went and got my coffee).
Reply
Don't get me wrong... I could get those 20 hours, but it's going to take me 6 weeks to put in that time. I have other things that I have to take care of and I get limited time for my games.
I'm more than willing to put in a couple bucks so that I can be competitive online with certain games rather than trudging through losing all the time and slowly leveling myself up. Is it unbalanced? Yes, and they need to find a happy medium. Do I feel guilty for buying said things? Well, I feel kind of dirty at first, but it goes away quickly when you twits can't kill me as fast as you could before... (not to say I don't die all the time still, but at least I have a fighting chance)
And if you say it's too expensive, I counter with 'It wasn't made for you.' It was made for people like me who can justify this purchase as, 'I paid for this as I went and got my coffee).
Posted: Mar 11th 2010 12:59PM yinzjagz said
Agreed! I added up all the extras for dead space one day because they were soooooo retarded (gun skin mods for $3, etc...) basically stuff you used to get for FREE when you beat a game like resident evil who is also now doing the same jargon with selling costumes. Anyways, all the useless dlc for dead space added to $25 dollars, all in microtransactions like .99cents or $1.99. 25 dollars for garbage, that used to be FREE!
I personally feel as if EA does DLC the wrong way. @aquacharger Free DLC is not profitable!
@aquacharger and @bobs (a few threads down) All of the free dlc they release is very close to launch. Is it really free when it should just be on the disc anyways? I feel as if the free dlc is intentionally held back by EA so they can release it on launch and generate some buzz for their titles. I would hate for this to become the norm among games, with little pieces of dlc clogging up my hard drive.
DlC the way it should be done......
Burnout paradise, which is an EA game with gobs of free dlc that actually expands the experience and came out months if not a year or so after the game was released.
Fallout 3, awesome new expansions
All mappacks, come on who doesn't like map packs.
DLC abuse....
Resident evil 5 first bonus mission with chris and jill. 3 rooms long, only 8 enemies, a really boring puzzle to figure out, then an annoying Wesker boss fight. Oh goodie, exactly what I wanted.
Dead Space, 25$ dollars worth of junk. I remember when i used to get unlimited ammo for FREE after I beat a game.
Any game that releases DLC the week a game is launched, free or not, just put it on the damn disc!
When have you felt ripped off by DLC?
P.S. don't get me wrong I LOVE DLC, I just hate don't want to see it being abused to make a quick buck.
Reply
I personally feel as if EA does DLC the wrong way. @aquacharger Free DLC is not profitable!
@aquacharger and @bobs (a few threads down) All of the free dlc they release is very close to launch. Is it really free when it should just be on the disc anyways? I feel as if the free dlc is intentionally held back by EA so they can release it on launch and generate some buzz for their titles. I would hate for this to become the norm among games, with little pieces of dlc clogging up my hard drive.
DlC the way it should be done......
Burnout paradise, which is an EA game with gobs of free dlc that actually expands the experience and came out months if not a year or so after the game was released.
Fallout 3, awesome new expansions
All mappacks, come on who doesn't like map packs.
DLC abuse....
Resident evil 5 first bonus mission with chris and jill. 3 rooms long, only 8 enemies, a really boring puzzle to figure out, then an annoying Wesker boss fight. Oh goodie, exactly what I wanted.
Dead Space, 25$ dollars worth of junk. I remember when i used to get unlimited ammo for FREE after I beat a game.
Any game that releases DLC the week a game is launched, free or not, just put it on the damn disc!
When have you felt ripped off by DLC?
P.S. don't get me wrong I LOVE DLC, I just hate don't want to see it being abused to make a quick buck.
Posted: Mar 11th 2010 12:38AM Darquarma said
By paying for points, you're only paying to unlock game features that would be free by just playing the game. I have no qualms when it comes to single player, but when it comes to multiplayer, the fact that you won the race because you bought a faster car with real money instead of having to earn it through skill pisses me off. If they can do this, how about selling a lightspeed car for 60 dollars? It unbalances the game, but hey, they're making money out of it, and the same logic applies if you defend paying for better equipment using real money.
Reply
Posted: Mar 11th 2010 2:20AM BoBsS said
I do enjoy EA's massive DLC push.
I was initially worried when they were talking about the "promising" future of DLCs. That's because of the poor experience with the original Bad Company.
So far, the most recent EA titles have had more free DLC than actual costing DLCs which is a good thing.
I hope they can keep that aspect up.
Reply
I was initially worried when they were talking about the "promising" future of DLCs. That's because of the poor experience with the original Bad Company.
So far, the most recent EA titles have had more free DLC than actual costing DLCs which is a good thing.
I hope they can keep that aspect up.
Posted: Mar 11th 2010 2:46AM sigma8 said
I wouldn't count on it. As a friend of mine is fond of pointing out: with capitalism, the only goal that matters is profit. And when profit is the only metric by which success is measured, then touchy-feely issues (like ethics) often fall by the wayside or are abused. For instance, EA won't do anything so crass that they would alienate all their customers from buying their products....but they will definitely test the boundaries to see how far they can go, if they think it will make them money.
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