The Understanding of DLC

UPDATED for The Bomd DLC



When a developer releases DLC in any form, free or paid, there are a few things to consider before violently posting on the forums of how said DLC is 'unfair".



1. Video game development costs MONEY. LOTS OF MONEY. Very few gamers even remotely know how much it actually costs to developer the game, let alone any content made aftter the fact, if there is any content after all.



While very uncommon in today's age, some game developers don't give you any DLC or even updates at all. They release a title AS IS and expect you to pay full price to buy it, only to provide no support later on. A majority of these games are unfinished and some are not even 'released' *cough*Early Access*cough* to dodge the criticisms of how broken they are.



Some developers even have the audacity to publicly deny any intention of fixing game-breaking bugs in their title and expect you to buy DLC for it regardless (Batman: Arkham Origins anyone?)



Be thankful your video game developers even care about the future of their product by even making DLC and updates for you, and know that these cost somebody MONEY.



2. A developer has EVERY right to charge whatever they desire for content produced after the game's original development timespan, as you the consumer DO NOT have ANY entitlement to such DLC made outside of this timespan/not already included on the disc (base game files)



Your purchase of PAYDAY 2 does NOT grant you automatic entitlement to ANY DLC released by the developer. Overkill Software would be perfectly within their consumer obligation of simplying patching the game and charging you for EVERY piece of DLC, but unlike other developers, they are quite generous at providing you a lot of FREE content and updates.



Again, while John Wick's character (most likely sponsored by the movie companies) and Old Hoxton (most likely funded out of Overkill's own pocket) were FREE to us, they could have easily been PAID DLC. Simon Viklund stated on the original Old Hoxton petition that anyone who signed the petition should be under the impression that they'd have to pay a few dollars for the priviledge of Old Hoxton as voice acting in the least (motion capture at the most) isn't free.



New characters take a voice actor and a mocap artist, bare minimum, things that aren't free and Overkill is perfectly within right to charge the consumer for. Purchasing the base game entitles you to NOTHING the base game didn't promise/finish before release/include in the base game files.



TL;DR - DLC isn't free, Overkill can charge whatever they want, be thankful you are getting any DLC/updates at all, you're not entitled to any DLC on the base purchase of a game alone, and as long as said DLC is not "pay-to-win"(virtually impossible in a Co-Op vs Player AI Horde mode game, which is PAYDAY 2 in basic form) and/or 'community dividing", it is an acceptable purchase for those who desire it.



End of story, DLC is a priviledge, not your given right. Voice your opinion with your wallet. Pay for the things you want, don't purchase the things you don't want. Support the good decisions and quality work of your game developers where it is deserved.