Witcher 3 Dev: Free DLC should be a norm, not the exception

evolve-dlc-640x365.jpg

The Witcher 3 just wrapped up its latest free DLC addition to the campaign, adding new missions along with a new game plus mode. Overall, The Witcher 3 has seen 16 free DLC additions since its launch earlier this year, from cosmetic additions, to further gameplay extensions.

When asked about the offered DLC, Marcin Iwinski, CD Projekt Red co-founder and CEO, had this to say:

"I'd like to extend my thanks to all the gamers who played our game and gave these DLCs a try. Nothing makes a developer happier than seeing gamers have fun with what they created."

"I would really like to see such initiatives become an industry standard rather than an exception to the general rule, and I hope that The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has set a good example."

:arrow: SOURCE

This isn't to say that paid DLC will not come to the game at a later date, but Iwinski insists that the additions will offer over 30 hours of new gameplay and continue to expand the overall story of the huge meta that is The Witcher 3.

In most cases with games like Evolve or Call of Duty, these small additions would be paid addons in the form of micro-transactions. Microtransactions have become a growing controversy in the industry over time and seeing some developers shed light in the controversy is refreshing.

How do you feel about CD Project Red's stance on DLC?
 

Terenigma

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Good on them for the free DLC packs, iv still not finished the CD content yet but the NG+ is certainly a feature i will be taking full advantage of. I can understand that some DLC that adds new quests or full character costing a few $/£ (Assuming it was not cut from the original game content) but stuff like alternate costumes have no place having price tags. We have a few in witcher 3 and they are great but if it was another game, you would be paying like $3 or £2 for a COSTUME. Its ridiculous and i certainly hope they have set a trend for other companies to follow.
 

CathyRina

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nah I don't think DLC should be always free.
But let's stop this pre-order, on disc, day one DLC that you have to pay extra for. Any DLC coming and being developed after the game is out I'll gladly pay money for.
Unless we talk about Destiny.
 
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wallacepower

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nah I don't think DLC should be always free.
But let's stop this pre-order, on disc, day one DLC that you have to pay extra for. Any DLC coming and being developed after the game is out I'll gladly pay money for.
Unless we talk about Destiny.
The witcher 3 has paid dlc and they are to be as big as witcher 2 in content.
 

mightymuffy

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Sadly I can't see the likes of Activision reading this and thinking 'fukkin hell they're right!'....mainly because the average Call of Duty moron has no qualms buying the stuff. My kid bro (shouldn't be saying that, he's 35 now...) is one such individual, and is quite happy to spend over £100 per CoD iteration, and won't bother playing anything else - so as long as cretins like my kid bro exist, we'll continue having micro transactions...

As for day one DLC:
burger.jpg
Pretty much sums that one up...
 

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I never had any problem with Day 1 DLC or on-disc DLC, mostly because I understand what a license is. You don't own games or the content that's on your discs or cartridges - its use is licensed to you under certain conditions. On-disc DLC accomplishes one thing - saves my bandwidth. As a user I get access to a crafted whole of a game and I have to pay to unlock additional features, it's been like this even before downloadable content, especially on PC where often times to unlock the full potential of a program you had to buy a code - it would be sent to you by post and upon entering it your utility would be "magically" upgraded to a Premium or Pro Edition with no downloads required. How? Because the features were all there, just locked behind a paywall. This is not a new concept, people.
 
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CathyRina

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I never had any problem with Day 1 DLC or on-disc DLC, mostly because I understand what a license is. You don't own games or the content that's on your discs or cartridges - its use is licensed to you under certain conditions. On-disc DLC accomplishes one thing - saves my bandwidth. As a user I get access to a crafted whole of a game and I have to pay to unlock additional features, it's been like this even before downloadable content, especially on PC where often times to unlock the full potential of a program you had to buy a code - it would be sent to you by post and upon entering it your utility would be "magically" upgraded to premium with no downloads required. How? Because the features were all there, just locked behind a paywall. This is not a new concept, people.
Yeah and it works great on Freeware/Trial Versions. On 60$/70€ Products not so much.
Technically the Stirder Reboot Trial version is the full game and buying the full version a DLC. And it works, you don't have to do a demo, people get to try out for free and if they like it they buy the 34kb file and can play in an instant. But if I spent 70€ on a game and directly on day one there are parts of the game locked away as DLC's I don't really see the appeal of it.
 

WiiCube_2013

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I never had any problem with Day 1 DLC or on-disc DLC, mostly because I understand what a license is. You don't own games or the content that's on your discs or cartridges - its use is licensed to you under certain conditions. On-disc DLC accomplishes one thing - saves my bandwidth. As a user I get access to a crafted whole of a game and I have to pay to unlock additional features, it's been like this even before downloadable content, especially on PC where often times to unlock the full potential of a program you had to buy a code - it would be sent to you by post and upon entering it your utility would be "magically" upgraded to a Premium or Pro Edition with no downloads required. How? Because the features were all there, just locked behind a paywall. This is not a new concept, people.
If it's on disc DLC then it's not really DLC but just Unlockable Content.

Well, one could say that DLC stands for Disc Locked Content which makes sense.
 

Foxi4

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Yeah and it works great on Freeware/Trial Versions. On 60$/70€ Products not so much. Technically the Stirder Reboot Trial version is the full game and buying the full version a DLC. And it works, you don't have to do a demo, people get to try out for free and if they like it they buy the 34kb file and can play in an instant. But if I spent 70€ on a game and directly on day one there are parts of the game locked away as DLC's I don't really see the appeal of it.
I don't see how offering expansions on Day 1 is bad - if you like the game, you can choose to buy more content for it, but nobody forces you to do so.
If it's on disc DLC then it's not really DLC but just Unlockable Content.

Well, one could say that DLC stands for Disc Locked Content which makes sense.
To be fair, I never liked the term "DLC", I feel "Expansion" is a far better name for what is offered.
 

vayanui8

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I don't see how offering expansions on Day 1 is bad - if you like the game, you can choose to buy more content for it, but nobody forces you to do so.
It really depends on the game. Its definitely fair on some games, but other have locked out rather important content before
 
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CathyRina

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I don't see how offering expansions on Day 1 is bad - if you like the game, you can choose to buy more content for it, but nobody forces you to do so.
I'm talking about On-disc DLC right now not Day 1 DLC. There is a clear distinction between the two.
On Disc DLC was built together with the main game but was left out of the game because they would rather sell it as DLC but it's still on the disc.
Day One DLC are often not part of the main game and are being developed in the final stages of development of the game, mostly while the coding and asset team has nothing else to do and they would have to be moved to an other project otherwise.
 

Foxi4

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I'm talking about On-disc DLC right now not Day 1 DLC. There is a clear distinction between the two.
On Disc DLC was built together with the main game but was left out of the game because they would rather sell it as DLC but it's still on the disc.
Day One DLC are often not part of the main game and are being developed in the final stages of development of the game, mostly while the coding and asset team has nothing else to do and they would have to be moved to an other project otherwise.
Again, the only difference is that on-disc content saves me bandwidth. I don't really care where the expansion is, I choose whether to unlock it or not, see the example of serial codes of the olden days above. If I want access to that additional content, its source doesn't concern me, only its quality does. As long as it's an actual optional expansion and not a clearly missing part of the game, I don't see the issue. Again, you don't own content, you only own a piece of plastic. Another example could be Windows installation discs - they have the complete system on them, but only the modules relevant to your edition of the serial are installed. Accessing the rest is as trivial as changing one config file and getting a serial for a different version, at least as far as I know.
 

Maikel Steneker

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Again, the only difference is that on-disc content saves me bandwidth. I don't really care where the expansion is, I choose whether to unlock it or not, see the example of serial codes of the olden days above. If I want access to that additional content, its source doesn't concern me, only its quality does. As long as it's an actual optional expansion and not a clearly missing part of the game, I don't see the issue. Again, you don't own content, you only own a piece of plastic. Another example could be Windows installation discs - they have the complete system on them, but only the modules relevant to your edition of the serial are installed. Accessing the rest is as trivial as changing one config file and getting a serial for a different version, at least as far as I know.
Technically, you are completely right. I don't think the problem with on-disc DLC is a rational issue. Instead, it's an emotional issue that has to do with people paying a lot of hard-earned money and then finding out the experience they got wasn't as complete as they'd like it to be.

Consider a game being released in the N64/PlayStation or PS2/GC/Xbox generation. It would probably be loaded with free neat extras, like extra costumes, bonus stages, etc. At the same time, PC games of that era received updates that made the game run better, added some extra options, etc.

In modern games, the neat content that is created may very well be sold as DLC instead. That is, the content is done, but the developer chooses to sell it instead of giving it away for free. Considering 60/70 dollars/euros is a lot of money, I understand why this annoys people. Other people will even get annoyed at small DLC being sold when it's released after the game has been released, simply because they're used to getting it for free through free content updates.

Some of these views come down to entitlement. At the same time, there is a tendency of publishers to more and more nickel and dime customers that already pay a big sum of money for a game. I think there will always be extremes of the spectrum (The Witcher 3 and Left 4 Dead 2 on one side, Batman: Arkham Knight and Dead Space 3 on the other). Everyone should simply decide which DLC they're okay with, and support that content with their wallet while "boycotting" the other stuff.

To conclude, I think you're right: having DLC already on the disc can only be good for customers, since it saves downloading extra stuff. It's not this practice that gamers take issue with; instead, it's a sign of greedy business practises they don't agree with.
 

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Free DLC should also be actual new downloadable content, not content you already made, singled it out, and then touted it as additional stuff you're giving out for free to get that sweet positive rep.

While overall CDPR has a better policy than most AAA, they themselves are exploiting the public's misconceptions of "DLC", it's not entirely genuine. It's evident with the day-one release of the free DLC waves. At the end of the day it's just their view on marketing strategy, much like say, ubisoft.

I mean, what the hell is the point of day one free DLC? Why not just include it in the base game? They factually made at least some of the stuff before release, so they cut it out and released as "additional content". They announced specific details about their free DLC plan 18 months before release - it wasn't like a last-week surprise change, I just checked the news post on their site. Doesn't that just come out as trying too hard to everyone else? That is artificially adding value to your product from thin air by going through a hoop.

It feels like people are accepting to be bullshit to just because the content is free - my personal problem is publishers bullshitting in the first place; "paid" or "free" is another issue that is about determining the worth of the content itself.
 

Foxi4

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Free DLC should also be actual new downloadable content, not content you already made, singled it out, and then touted it as additional stuff you're giving out for free to get that sweet positive rep.

While overall CDPR has a better policy than most AAA, they themselves are exploiting the public's misconceptions of "DLC", it's not entirely genuine. It's evident with the day-one release of the free DLC waves. At the end of the day it's just their view on marketing strategy, much like say, ubisoft.

I mean, what the hell is the point of day one free DLC? Why not just include it in the base game? They factually made at least some of the stuff before release, so they cut it out and released as "additional content". They announced specific details about their free DLC plan 18 months before release - it wasn't like a last-week surprise change, I just checked the news post on their site. Doesn't that just come out as trying too hard to everyone else? That is artificially adding value to your product from thin air by going through a hoop.

It feels like people are accepting to be bullshit to just because the content is free - my personal problem is publishers bullshitting in the first place; "paid" or "free" is another issue that is about determining the worth of the content itself.
Planned doesn't mean pre-existing. You have to consider that weeks or even months could pass between a game reaching Gold status (complete and ready for release) and actual distribution. First you have to distribute copies to the rating boards across all continents, once rated you have to press the discs and box them, send some to reviewers for media coverage, launch the advertising campaign, send out shipments of the game to warehouses across the globe, distribute the stock from the warehouses to stores and then finally proceed with the launch. All this time can be used for creating Day 1 DLC which couldn't possibly be included on-disc because the on-disc game was already Gold and waiting to be pressed.
 

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I agree that free DLC is great and that a lot of companies rip us off by charging a lot for DLC. However, when the value is worth it I don't mind having to pay. Mario Kart 8 has awesome DLC that adds 16 tracks and 6 new characters. In addition, they add more material with almost every game update for free. That is how you do it.

Fantasy Life had on disc DLC (on cartridge?) yet the DLC added the entire Origin Island plot (several hours), doubled the level cap on almost everything, allowed you to reach new ranks, created another tier of endgame items, raised NPC intelligence, and essentially doubled the amount of content in the game.

DLCs like that I have no issue paying for. DLCs where you pay out a lot of money for not a whole lot of content I have issue with. At least Amiibos are cute, but they often are an example of the kind of DLC I don't like.
 

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