Battlefield 3 DLC is forcing industry to "step up" its game, says DICE

Battlefield 3's DLC slate has been rather content-heavy, delivering more than just basic map packs or character re-skins. DICE producer Craig Mcleod has stressed that the industry could take a leaf out of the studio's book and "step up" it's approach to DLC packs moving forward.

Speaking with OXM, Mcleod said that the team learned a lot from its time with Battlefield: Bad Company 2.

He explained, "I do feel that the DLC packs we release have expanded. I look back to Bad Company 2, and we released a number of map packs, and then right at the end of the Bad Company cycle we released Vietnam. This was a much bigger pack incorporating new weapons and environments - we actually built a whole new front-end right into it."

Mcleod and DICE feel that content packs should offer more, and also give studios a great chance to test out new ideas, such as the Drop Ship from the final Battlefield 3 expansion End Game, "To reference End Game, we have the vehicle air drop - this is a fantastic feature that we haven't had before, that we've brought into the gameplay. It's a way of not only catering to our fans but also trying out new things from future development."

It is Mcleod's belief that DICE's DLC slate has shown the rest of the world how to approach added value properly, giving the player more for their buck, "When I look at things like Battlelog, and when I look at the whole experience that we deliver in a DLC - people didn't do this before, they literally did map packs, and now we can see some of our competitors introducing not just new maps but also new weapons, and new features on the side. And I feel we're forcing the industry to step up and follow the example that we're setting."

What's your take? Has the Battlefield 3 DLC season been enjoyable? Do you feel you got enough new content for your money? Let us know below.