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Should We Earn DLC or Pay For It?

Should We Earn DLC or Pay For It?

A shift has begun with games. We always see titles with new characters joining the cast as DLC. Capcom and Gearbox are experimenting with ideas to make acquiring them more worthwhile. Instead of sticking with options that give you someone new for a set sum of real world cash, we’re getting opportunities to spend real money or invest time into earning virtual cash for them instead.

This is happening with Street Fighter V and Battleborn right now. At the moment, people playing Capcom’s fighter can spend 100,000 Fight Money on Alex or Guile, the game’s first two additional characters. In Battleborn , people can get Alani with 47,500 in-game credits. Naturally, there’ll also be means of paying to unlock both, either with a season pass or via single purchases, but you don’t have to provide real cash.

It’s brilliant. We benefit, because we don’t have to keep reinvesting into the game they’re playing. Enjoy Street Fighter V or Battleborn enough, and you’ll already have enough money stashed away to pay for more content. It’s almost like a callback to retro games, where you unlocked additional characters with genuine effort. Work hard enough and you’ll be rewarded!

We can still spend real money for immediate gratification, which also works. Not everyone has the time to spend earning 100,000 Fight Money or 47,500 credits. Giving people the choice to spend actual cash works just as well. It isn’t like there’s any imbalance based on currency choice. Either way, the roster expands.

Should We Earn DLC or Pay For It?

Both methods benefit developers and publishers too. If someone’s spending real cash, then that’s going into the creator’s pockets. They’ll have funding for more games. Should someone earn it, they still win. You wouldn’t keep playing a game if it wasn’t good. Increased activity makes it more attractive to people who don’t already own it, as they know there’ll be a large community to play with. Either way, everyone wins.

More developers and publishers should offer options when it comes to acquiring add-ons. Capcom and Gearbox both took a chance, and it seems like it’s paying off for both companies. It’d be wonderful to see this model catch on, because we can all benefit from the practice.

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