Expansions need to cost money, not weapons or armor

Feb 5, 2015 15:10 GMT  ·  By

Premium downloadable content needs to add meaningful things to a game and expand its value, instead of just delivering new items or weapons, at least according to developer CD Projekt Red, who's going to release 16 different free add-ons for the game.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the biggest role-playing games set to debut this year, and developer CD Projekt Red has already shared plenty of details about its story, its mechanics, and, like with most unreleased titles nowadays, its DLC policy.

As opposed to games that already have premium DLC offered for free to those who pre-order the game, the Polish studio promises to debut 16 different add-ons for The Witcher 3 after its release.

Premium DLC hurts the title in the long term

According to the studio's Marcin Iwinski, who talks with Metro, premium DLC might generate profit in the short term, but eventually, it ends up hurting the game as many players expect to get something for free after the initial release.

"When we buy a game for full price you’d like to get some post-release stuff for free. And I know very well how it works on the business side and it’s very easy to make a sword that takes a couple of hours and then peddle it out for, I dunno, five quid. And then you sell 10 thousand of this sword and your bottom line looks great, but I think it works against you in the long term," he says.

Premium DLC needs to add value

However, this doesn't mean that all DLC should be free, as Iwinski believes that proper add-ons in the vein of expansion packs for old RPGs is certainly worth the investment. As such, a new story campaign that brings hours of content can easily motivate players to buy it, rather than a weapon or a piece of armor.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt debuts on May 19 for the PC, PS4, and Xbox One. Expect its free DLC to start rolling out shortly after that.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (6 Images)

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