No, this is not going to be an AMA. I've decided to briefly come out of my perpetual lurking state because lately there has been some outrage in /gaming/ regarding DLC, DRM, and numerous other decisions gaming companies have made.
And no, I'm not going to reveal who I am, because I'm not going to be a popular person by the time this thread is done with.
I'm going to get this out of the way right now.
DRM exists because people pirate games. I'm sorry if that answer upsets you or in turn causes you to pirate more games, but that's the way it is. As developers, we would rather DRM didn't exist because it's an extra hurdle to get through before a game can be released. I've spoken to others in the industry, and it's a foregone conclusion that we are moving towards a cloud based system where very little of the game will reside on your hard drive. Retail stores used to fight this idea, but with how PC game sales are trending towards digital distribution, it's really not a question of if but when.
The only reason why you see certain members of the industry speak out in favor of piracy, is they are trying to gain popularity and encourage you to buy their game. It's the same reason why musicians do it, and the same reason why certain actors/actresses defend their work being downloaded illegally.
Now that I have most of you frothing at the mouth.. onto DLC.
You are correct in assuming that most DLC is created before the game is finished. More often than not, we are approached 50-60 percent into the development cycle of a game and asked how we want to handle content post production. This has become more and more common the last five-six years, and it is a direct result of several evolving changes in the industry.
To be blunt, you can blame Gamestop and other retail stores that encourage buying used games more than new ones. Someone is less likely to sell back their title if they know more content is on the way, and with the fact that some games now can be finished in a day playing time, we have to move fast with DLC announcements.
Yes, you are caught in a bit of a war between distributors and publishers. I'm sorry.
Pre-Order bonuses have been ramping up in popularity because they work rather well.
Which sorts of leads me to my final diatribe.
DLC promises and Pre Order bonuses increase sales. Again, I'm sorry if those facts upset you, but we aren't an industry of upholding some false ethical code. Over the last several years, the consumer has eaten up both of these business practices and shown us that we can and will benefit from using them.
Do I think what EA is doing is bullshit? Yes, I do. Are they getting away with it? Yes, they are. I admire what Reddit is doing with the boycott, but please keep in mind that /gaming/ does not represent the majority of gamers. There are people who, upon hearing of the Pre-Order bonus, immediately signed up for it.
My advice to /gaming/ before I leave
- Digitally Download your games. The sooner retail stores are mostly out of the equation, the sooner some of these aspects of the industry might dissipate.
- Stop pirating. Seriously though, stop. If you don't think that there is a correlation between DRM and piracy numbers, then you are not doing it right. If you are going to pirate, then please buy the games you do download.
- The best advice I can give. Follow through with your boycott. Follow through with every boycott. Companies can ignore verbal insults, but they cannot ignore explaining to the shareholders why profits are down. If a boycott works, then it is quite effective. Key word is IF.
A.D. out -