Fans want day-one DLC, says BioWare staffer
BioWare's director of online development Fernando Melo has said there is significant demand for day one DLC despite its unpopularity in some circles.
“Contrary to what you might hear on the internet, fans do want more content. They tend to say, ‘I want it now,'" Melo told audiences at GDC Europe, as reported by IGN.
"The problem with day one content and the challenge around it is that the right answer for now is different for every player. There is no single right time, there is no single now. It’s subjective, and it’s unique to every player."
As reported earlier, Melo revealed that a significant proportion of players never finish BioWare's games, which means there's little point in waiting a few months before releasing extra content so that people can finish what ships on disc.
"In that case, you’re making it available on their time. They choose when to pick that up. It’s not based on us. It’s not based on some first-party release schedule. It’s there, if they want it they can pick it up day one. If they don’t, they can wait until they’ve finished their game," he said.
Although many developers create dedicated teams to produce DLC, or being work on it after the core game is complete, a vocal minority continues to find the whole idea quite distasteful, believing that it robs players of content which should be included in the base game. Melo said the best approach to this issue is to patiently stick to your message.
“If you have a consistent culture of how you’re communicating to your fans, that will increase the number of people that are more likely to believe in your explanation," he said.
"You’re not lying to them, but they will take whatever you’re saying as like, ‘you’re lying to us.’ That will always be there. The only way that that’s going to go away is you fast forward a few more years, where this is just normal.
"Every game is digital from day one. Every game is an ongoing service, almost like an MMO, where on any given day new content shows up. Maybe that’s part of the base package, and maybe it’s a premium feature.”