When video games were first introduced they were distributed physically by cartridge and floppy discs. This process included the normal investments like shipping, boxing, box art, booklets, and other added objects or information with the games themselves. Today games are distributed largely as virtual data. With digital data also brought new forms of objectives. The video game industry strives to keep games from being resold to places like GameStop. When a game is sold as new the developers and publishers receive their percentages on the sale. Places like GameStop will buy back physical games at a quarter of the price and re-sell for a maximum profit the developers does not see a dime out of this. Thus a new form of data was created to keep the games in consumer’s hands, DLC (downloadable content).
DLC was first introduced in 2002 by Microsoft with the Xbox. Originally the consumer would buy the game at a premium price of $50 and then at a later date the developers could create extended content. When the Xbox first created extended content it was given at a much later date with no price tag. This was a huge step for gaming, the customers were given the choice to extend the fun and time they spent with the multiplayer or stories that were loved and enjoyed. The Xbox 360 landed in November 22, 2005, bringing a whole new online experience including an online market. DLC now adopted a price tag instead of the free model. DLC was sold at a minimum of $15. The set price for Xbox 360 titles are $60 making the price of the title $75 after purchasing the DLC. Once the DLC model showed a success and more consumers were trading less of their content to resellers the model became expected on every title created. Gamers were excited about this because the production rate became much faster and could always count on more content, it allowed extended stories, more multiplayer options, or new skins (different colors or decals for characters or weapons) for the characters within a month of release. Now DLC is a money chasing monster, companies like Capcom releasing games with DLC already on the disc and the consumer has to pay in order to unlock the content. That should throw any consumer back, “Wait, you want me to pay for content that’s already on the disc that I purchased?” does this make sense? Most consumers wouldn’t buy a bike if it only had one peddle, or a car with missing doors, this is an incomplete game charging the consumer to make it complete. DLC has become so impactful that a large software company EA (Electronic Arts) has stated that no game will be approved unless it has multiplayer and DLC. This is a large problem with the gaming community