Can Twisted Metal Succeed Without DLC? | Gameforumer ... - Gaming

Six years after the industry drove horse armor jokes into the ground, the concept of a major title without downloadable content sounds absurd (unless you?re talking about a Nintendo game.) DLC gives publishers the chance to make a little more cash, and extends the life and sales of existing games ? thus limiting the damage used game sales can inflict on the bottom line. Combine those incentives with a population of gamers eagerly buying post-release content, and it?s hard to find a reason for a publisher or developer not to push DLC, but that?s exactly what Eat Sleep Play (ESP) and Sony are doing with the new Twisted Metal.

In an interview with Game Informer, Twisted Metal designer David Jaffe explained:

?Right now there are no plans. I always thought it was going to be a great game. But we weren?t nursing these illusions that we were making Call of Duty in terms of sales. If it?s a big enough hit I?m sure Sony won?t let it wither on the vine. But right now there are no plans at all. There?s no DLC plans, there?s no sequel or expansion plans. We have to wait and see how it does.?

Jaffe raises a valid point. No one can guarantee the future success of Twisted Metal, and making DLC for a poorly performing game amounts little more than throwing away money. It may very well be within both the developer?s and publisher?s best interests to take a more cautious approach, but that leads to its own set of problems. Game makers can?t create new content overnight, and one of the main purposes of DLC is to ensure that those new copies of Twisted Metal stay in consumer hands and away from the used games shelf at the nearest GameStop. If Twisted Metal does perform well, will the new DLC arrive in time to prevent owners from selling it back? If Sony is actually taking a wait and see approach, the company should have prepared a small amount of easily produced content (think skins, cosmetic changes and the like) to tide players over until ESP could produce a more significant package.

ESP will continue to work on non-content related updates for the game until the end of March, and in another interview with Joystiq, Jaffe mentioned that the team?s work on the planned day one patch, but all that work falls under a pre-existing game ?maintenance contract.? Will Sony simply let the game lie fallow afterward? It?s likely that such a plan makes sense from a business standpoint ? Sony?s hedging bets that Twisted Metal won?t perform to a level that makes additional content profitable ? but it also serves as a signal to potential buyers indicating that post-release support for the game may be short lived. I?d be wary of investing in any multiplayer title that won?t receive regular updates. When every other game on the market uses new content to keep the player base engaged and active, how do I know that I?ll even be able find a Twisted Metal match online three months after its release? While players technically take this risk when buying any online game, the promise of future DLC helps assuage those doubts.

It seems, however, that I?m in the minority. We discussed the idea of a major title with no DLC in the office and even asked for the thoughts of 1UP readers on Facebook, and most seem excited about it. ?Twisted Metal was the greatest game ever, and it didn?t need [DLC]. It just means the developer is making the game right the first time, unlike 99% of games out now who release DLC right when the game comes out.? said one poster.

Some felt that the advent of post-release content contributed to an overall decline In the size of games, ?The problem is modern multiplayer games don?t ship with enough content *cough Battlefield 3* and that content is shipped as DLC.?

While a few posters took up my position, the vast majority seemed almost relieved. Purchasing expensively priced downloadable expansions can drain the wallet. Not to mention that players shouldn?t have to pay extra money to experience content that should have been on the game?s disc, like Final Fantasy XIII-2 which looks like it may follow in the footsteps of the 2009 Prince of Persia or Alan Wake and will end its story in a downloadable chapter. Sony may very well send Twisted Metal off to languish after its release, but that prospect seems to excite, rather than discourage fans.

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