Ubisoft: "No More Compulsory DLC"
Ann Blondel-Jouin said:"Monetisation is something we have to be very careful about, and my team is in charge of that and making sure we find a right balance," Blondel-Jouin says.
"The key is if it's not adding something on-top of the actual experience of the game, then it is no good. Because you'll be asking for more money for the wrong reasons. Also, if the content is compulsory for the gamers, it's no good as well. It is a way to deliver more fun to gamers, but they have a choice to go for that extra fun or not. If I take an analogy of an amusement park, you can go through all the rides, but then you can also go to the shop to buy some food or merchandise or whatever... regardless of whether you spend in the shop, you're still part of the whole experience. Nobody is making you buy if you don't want to, but it is another way to have a different entertainment experience. If you're with your kids, and there's a toy you want to get, we will make sure it is an extra experience. It won't be the case if you don't buy it then you can't do anything else.
"It wouldn't work if it was about making it compulsory for gamers. No more DLC that you have to buy if you want to have the full experience. You have the game, and if you want to expand it - depending on how you want to experience the game - you're free to buy it, or not."
So what does this mean, exactly? Rainbow Six Siege already uses this practice for it's content; maps and additional things like game modes are given out to players in free updates, whereas things like character customization and new characters themselves are optional DLC. All optional DLC in the game is cosmetic and changes nothing gameplay wise, as Blondel-Jouin put it "everyone gets the same full experience".
In my opinion, this is the perfect way to monetize your content while keeping players happy. While some people may agree, any DLC is bad DLC, things like character customization and simple visual additions that have no impact on gameplay are much preferred over "pay-to-win" and "exclusive maps" that games like Call of Duty boast. I, for one, hope to see publishers adopt this same policy when it comes to DLC.
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