Capcom calls “BS” on Complaints of Charging for DLC
A few days back we had a post outlining DLC that would be coming to Resident Evil in the form of online verses mode. Many of you were quite upset and thought that this material should have been originally included on the disk. Well over on the Capcom forums Sven, the Corporate Officer and Vice-president of Strategic Planning & Business Development, has responded to your complaints.
I’m sorry guys, but this is the part where I have to call “BS”. RE5 is well worth every penny of $60. A huge game, with tons of replay value, loads of unlockables, new weapons, co-op, mercenaries mode, etc. If any game warrants its price point, it’s RE5.
Prior to the announcement of the Versus mode, no one complained they weren’t getting their money’s worth with the initial release because it packs TONS of value because it is an amazing game. So if people were already satisfied with what the package had, when we offer MORE, why is it people feel they’ve been somehow cheated? If you don’t find value in our secondary offerings, the choice is simple, don’t purchase it. If you do find it valuable (and we hope you do) please do buy it and enjoy it.
Secondly, whenever we do PDLC, that content exists with its own budgets, it’s own profit and loss analysis with its own forecasts. If it didn’t, that extra content wouldn’t have been put into production, because it did not fit within the production budget of the base product.
The content that is shipping in the full game exists within its own budget. The content shipping afterward (regardless of how close to release it is… because the goal IS to have it release relatively closely to the base product’s release) exists within its own budget. To try and have it release in a timeframe that is relatively close to the initial release, development starts well before the base product is on the shelves. There’s no other way to keep it within 3 to 6 weeks of the initial release (which is the goal).
And again, for those people looking at this anew, the DLC in question is not an unlock on the disc.
Now honestly I am torn about DLC some games like Burnout Paradise have done a wonderful job at adding new info to their game without causing much stir in the gaming community, but then other developers seem to want to just nickel and dime you anyway they can. Sven does make some valid points and he is right if you do not want to pay then you do not have to get it.
Ultimately I feel where most people complaints do come from is this is being announced so close to the release of the game, and it is really hard for us gamers who just spent $60 on a game to figure out why these things are not included with the game. I understand these are developed sometimes separately with their own budgets and own schedules, but it really does seem wrong to release something new so soon after the initial release. Would we of been happy if this was announced 2 months from now maybe, but this is a growing trend in the gaming world and us as gamers either need to accept it or do something about it.
9 Responses to “Capcom calls “BS” on Complaints of Charging for DLC”
I’m torn as well. I’ll have to agree with Adam though on the fact that the DLC is coming too soon for a game that just recently got released. Free DLC post release date is welcomed with open hands but DLC that isn’t free shouldn’t be available until at least 1 month passes by.
Lesson learned. DLC only works if there’s a two month gap between the Game Release and the DLC release. Otherwise, gamers feel cheated.
Well there’s 2 problems with the complaints…
1. This is a very cheap add on of only 5 dollars. A lot of games cost that much just to add a character skin or a couple of them. This is 2 entirely new game modes 1 of which is survival the other one which is PVP combat (first ever) within a resident evil game.
2. If they did release it 1-2 months later so that gamers didn’t feel “cheated” I would feel cheated personally from the fact that I had to wait longer to get it. The Disgaea 3 DLC kills me cause it’s released in shorter bursts and I don’t want to play Burnout Paradise THAT much until the new island is released.
In my opinion it’s awesome the way they’re doing it. I’ve paid that much for a burnout car that just changes up the game a bit. These are ENTIRELY NEW GAME MODES. Even party was more expensive. I mean seriously it’s not like you’re paying 6 dollars for additional ways to make a music video in Skate 2 right?
There’s a right way to do DLC which is value for your money (burnout paradise offered a LOT of free and then optional pay) and there’s a wrong way (like Skate 2 and when they take DLC that’s on the disk and make you unlock it by paying money)
To all the complainers… tell me the truth… how many Little Big Planet purchases or Rock Band 2 purchases have you made that you’ll hardly ever touch?
And I call their response BS
“when we offer MORE, why is it people feel they’ve been somehow cheated?”
I admire what hes trying to do here, but he obviously doesnt understand that this isnt the case. When people see an announcement of DLC so close to release they dont think, wow more content! They see that this content couldve been on the game originally, and that its a company scheme to make money. (Which is no prob for me actually get it how u can) But these days some devs are doing that, releasing a game at full retail price without everything it couldve had. GAmers then end up paying a premium price to experience a full game. I mean this only when the game and dlc is so close to each other.
@Makai
You make (a) great point(s) but the reason people are whining or complaining is for what I stated above. Your comparisons are valid but its different, Criterion worked >extra< to create all that content, it wasnt made during the game’s development time and then separated from the final game to make more money off of it. Wouldnt you feel upset if Resistance 2′s Competitive mode was released apart from the game’s singleplayer and co-op. And then you had to pay 5 bucks to play it, when it couldve been on the disc?
makai, you would feel cheated by having to wait for this? I can explain the versus right now, you go into an alley, you see you opponent down the way, you both look at each other, you pull out your pistols and you start shooting.. you want to duck, juke, sway, do anything to dodge the bullets, but you cannot, your feet are like cement, it must be the artificial suspense created by Capcom!!!!! There is a good reason RE games in the past have not had versus..
Hopefully people let capcom know how they really feel by not buying this crap. Otherwise we will continue to see developers doing this same thing.
First off, this guy can’t talk because he is not a genuine gamer. How can he say such a redundant fact? The fact is I was cheated. First off I have to spend 69.99 to buy the game, then I have to pay an extra 5 bucks for content that should have been bundled in the game? Come on, that’s ridiculous. And that stuff about the games own budget, I’m pretty sure development of the DLC was already in production long before the game finished, otherwise they wouldn’t have been able to announce DLC content in less then a week of game release. It’s just another scheme for Capcom to get money, and really, the customers are always right. And the customers are complaining and displeased, with these horrendous decision to charge for something that should have been bundled.
@KnaveX well I do have to take his word at face value that the DLC had it’s own budget. I mean it is extra development time, extra testing, extra this, that, and the other. I don’t think it was developed with the game and then separated before birth. I think the game was mostly finished, then they decided to try and add some new modes, the company denied them because they were going to go over budget and possibly hit a loss. Criterion did make cars that were AFTER the development time of the game but you also gotta remember 1 of these cars cost as much as the 2 or more game modes being added for 5 dollars.
@ Voyousan the reason why I want the versus mode, is because I have my run and gun action arcade shooters. They are Warhawk and Resistance 2. I have my serious hardcore shooter called Killzone 2. I have my twitch shooter that I can play on keyboard and mouse called Unreal Tournament 3. Last year I had a limit of 2-3 shooters per year. I bought 3 or 4 last year and already got 4 this year and there are more that I want. I was never a real shooter fan because after a while they all seemed too similar. This is why I LOVE Resident Evil 5. It’s different. it requires thinking differently. It requires playing differently. You see that’s the thing that keeps me into gaming. That’s what I love about gaming. New experiences, and different ways to experience things. Example Gitarooman is different from Rock Band which is different from DJ portable max which is different from Beats. All of those games give you such a unique feel. There’s something about Killzone 2 which got me hooked far more than Resistance 2 ever could.
@Arenham how did you manage to pay 70 dollars for the game? I understand that it’s a lot of money, but I mean there are games like LBP which charge for only costumes that add nothing else as well as things like Eye of Judgement which costs 70 dollars to get the game AND camera but then you have to pay for the expansion packs and the extra cards. I’m not saying that it’s all worth it, but many games come with their own extra costs and to some it’s worth it but to others… the extra value isn’t worth enough to them.
I have put 100+ hours on Disgaea 3 not including the 200+ hours on Digaea 1, the PSP version, and Disgaea 2.
I love Disgaea 3 so much that I pay for the DLC as soon as I can every release since I bought the game used meaning NISA does’t get the money from my original purchase. I’ve already done like 20-40 dollars in DLC on that game for characters I probably won’t use just because I love it so much and want all the characters. I bought the MGS outfits on LBP cause one of my co-workers loves the series and was trying to look like snake.
Everyone has their own cost/benefit analysis that they do in order to determine if they’re getting it or not. I was actually thinking about selling my copy of Burnout Paradise and buying the digital version but I might not considering how much I’ve spent on the DLC and how much more they might be bringing out and how much more that could cost. In the end it’s all a personal judgment that’s subjective, but RE 5 gives me enough value for my money to warrant it personally.
I mean it’s 5 dollars… What isn’t worth 5 dollars. What do you have to sacrifice in order to make up for those 5 dollars? As long as a flood of good PSN titles don’t come out it’s a day 1 purchase for the dlc for m