Bleszinski: On-disc DLC is an "unfortunate reality" of games business

Gears of War designer Cliff Bleszinski has said he isn't a fan of on-disc DLC, but considers it a necessary by product of the way the games industry functions.

Speaking to Gamespot, Bleszinski said early DLC solves a logistic problem with studios which only work on one title at a time; a large portion of a game's development team finds itself at a loose end approaching release date.

"When you're making a game, and you're getting into a ship cycle, there's often three or four months where the game is basically done. And you have an idle team that needs to be working on things," he said.

Unfortunately, day-one DLC releases create their own problems.

"Often for compatibility issues, day one, some of that content does need to be on-disc," he said.

"It's an ugly truth of the gaming industry."

Bleszinski described himself as "not the biggest fan of having to do" on-disc DLC, but said that the solution is "one of the unfortunate realities" of the trade.

"If we can get to fully downloadable games, then you can just buy a $30 horror game and just have it, and that stuff will thankfully go away," he added.

On-disc DLC has been the subject of much debate and controversy lately, with Capcom's Street Fighter x Tekken in particular raising gamers' ire.