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DLC is better than advertising

Published on 24th September 2010 by Joe Martin

Capcom reckons that downloadable content is better at promoting games than advertising.

Downloadable content is a better way to promote games than expensive advertising campaigns, says Capcom after the success of Dead Rising 2: Case Zero on consoles recently. Seems that the publisher has only just realised that, while advertising costs money, publishers can actually make money from selling DLC.

UK project manager Karl Reader told MCV that he expects other publishers to follow Capcom's example soon too.

"It's the most dynamic sales weapon we have ever had in our arsenal, giving us the equivalent exposure of a multi-million pound TV campaign," said Reader.

"We foresee other publishers will follow suit. With increasing development budgets and increased risk, several smaller projects is only sensible. What we are seeing is a precursor to episodic gaming with Capcom at the helm."

Capcom hopes that the success of downloadable prologue Dead Rising: Case Zero will drive sales towards the full game, Dead Rising 2.

The Japanese publisher has been so pleased with the success of Case Zero that it has announced a second episodic DLC pack, Case West.

Let us know your thoughts in the forums.

23 Comments

Discuss in the forums Reply

eddtox 24th September 2010, 10:58

So, paid demos, then?
BTW, Capcom, Valve was at the head of episodic gaming 4 years ago. Blow it out your 8888!

Memnoch-fr 24th September 2010, 11:06

Yep Valves does episodes, but they are pretty much full games each time. Not good news as DLC seems to be the thing now, you purchase a game, but only get 70% of it, and have to pay extra to actually get the whole thing. GT5 looks like it will follow the same structure. I don't bother with DLC, even on games that I enjoy as the price is rarely worth the actual game play added.

Constructacon 24th September 2010, 11:19

Yeah. Because we know how great episodic gaming can be. DLC isn't entirely without issue either.

kempez 24th September 2010, 11:23

Some DLC is good. People got annoyed at the price of the MW2 map packs, but they are amazing value if you play the game a lot. I've played MW2 upwards of 20 days play time.

£26 - Game
DLC 1 & 2 - ~£20

Total: £44

Game play time: ~20 days (480 hours)

Amazing value really. Only other game I've got close is CS:S which in fairness, gets updates and user content for free.

Fizzban 24th September 2010, 11:30

If people buy these things then every game developer will start doing it. Not good.

DLC that bridges one game to another is good (ME2 -Shadow Broker). But giving us what are essentially demo's or promos, that we have to pay for, is cheeky. But the masses will almost certainly pay for it..in fact they already are. 500,000 people have already bought Dead Rising 2 prequel (apparently).

proxess 24th September 2010, 11:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by kempez
I've played MW2 upwards of 20 days play time.

I've played Ultima Online for longer than that...

B1GBUD 24th September 2010, 11:57

Battlefield 2 = £30

Total Play time = 39 Days (957 Hours)

Less than £1 a day

Ok, I did buy SF and the Euro Forces Booster packs but they then released the complete booster pack for free with the 1.5 patch.

BRAWL 24th September 2010, 12:18

I have no issue with DLC... as long as you get a proper game in the first place. Not a game whereby it leaves more plot holes than the SAW franchise then you pay for the DLC to fill in the blanks... That kind of stuff would just be heresy to gaming and I worry it may cause alot of damage

Xir 24th September 2010, 12:20

...sounds a lot like a Demo to me though ;-)

mrbens 24th September 2010, 12:31

This DLC stuff is getting out of hand :(

Unknownsock 24th September 2010, 13:24

I seriously don't understand the whine about this?

Don't want it? Don't buy it.

eddtox 24th September 2010, 13:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unknownsock
I seriously don't understand the whine about this?

Don't want it? Don't buy it.

I won't.

sstteevveenn 24th September 2010, 14:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by Unknownsock
I seriously don't understand the whine about this?

Don't want it? Don't buy it.

It's not difficult really. The problem is people DO want the game, and DO buy it, only to find it's been hacked apart and they have to spend more to get what they already paid for. That's what people are worried about. Chances are you already know this and just wanted to be the "don't buy it then" guy.

sp4nky 24th September 2010, 15:06

I'm still waiting for the DLC for KOTOR II - the levels that were removed prior to releasing the game.

Fizzban 24th September 2010, 17:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by sp4nky
I'm still waiting for the DLC for KOTOR II - the levels that were removed prior to releasing the game.

Next best thing.

The internet is your friend.

deadsea 24th September 2010, 18:30

Quote:

Originally Posted by kempez
Some DLC is good. People got annoyed at the price of the MW2 map packs, but they are amazing value if you play the game a lot. I've played MW2 upwards of 20 days play time.

£26 - Game
DLC 1 & 2 - ~£20

Total: £44

Game play time: ~20 days (480 hours)

Amazing value really. Only other game I've got close is CS:S which in fairness, gets updates and user content for free.

Someone remind me again how much did deus ex cost when it first came out? That and baldur's gate 2? Or maybe diablo 2? The newer gamers are getting convinced that 20hrs is the new epic and that can't be good....

kempez 25th September 2010, 09:38

Read my post. I said 20 days.

And then also ask yourself how old I am. Im certainly not what anyone in their right mind would call a new gamer, that's for sure. Got to love how people make uninformed sweeping statements ;)

I don't mind paying fir decent new content if the original game had good content to start with.

I'll agree that if a game is crippled at first in order to bring out DLC later then that's not good.

mikeuk2004 26th September 2010, 10:39

I playe dthe demo of this prologue and thought it was borring. But I imagine this is the start and not the end. DLC before and after a game release.

Then those who dont buy any DLC or even have internet access will not actually have the full game. Imagine if you bought a DVD and it didnt have the begining or end? It will be like then you stick the TV on in the middle of a film and try work out whats going on because you missed the start.

frontline 26th September 2010, 17:57

I've never purchased DLC for a game. Fallout 3, Borderlands etc - loved the original games, but couldn't see the point of purchasing extra content.

Episodic gaming is a far better concept, price games a bit cheaper but maybe only get 40-60% of the normal gameplay length (although in the COD series that would probably equate to about an hours worth of play).

The failure of SiN episodes didn't bother me, as the first episode was so poor but wasn't too highly priced and i did play it through to the end.

deadsea 27th September 2010, 02:19

Quote:

Originally Posted by kempez
Read my post. I said 20 days.

And then also ask yourself how old I am. Im certainly not what anyone in their right mind would call a new gamer, that's for sure. Got to love how people make uninformed sweeping statements ;)

I don't mind paying fir decent new content if the original game had good content to start with.

I'll agree that if a game is crippled at first in order to bring out DLC later then that's not good.

Aw nuts... That didn't come out right.. Not enough sleep and everything... It was a in general comment and not specific to that post. The 20 hrs was referring to the single player portion. And i have seen more than a few people refer to 20-40+ hrs games as epic (in length). That's not right... I'd bet their heads would explode if they played any of the FF series...

Anyway, why did i quote your post? Time to start the coffee drip...:(

SNIPERMikeUK 27th September 2010, 11:22

Advertising = Costs Money

DLC = Costs U Money

See what I did there....

Sensei 27th September 2010, 13:20

MW2 is a typical example of what we are all talking about here.
If people think 6 hrs is acceptable for a single player game then I must be getting old.

Some say they buy MW2 for its online gaming. Well I thought it was rubbish compared to the first one and if things carry on like this how soon before they develop it only for online and begin charging you for the pleasure?

Gamers need to be careful what they let the industry get away with because I can see it has already started with releasing unfinished games at full price before charging more for DLC claiming its new content.

infi 28th September 2010, 08:34

yes, DLC is great for promoting a game in a negative way... games with awful lot of DLC usually land very low on the "I might buy this"-scale.