It seems that games companies still haven’t quite grasped the reception when it comes to paid dlc, and whether or not it should have been included in the base game in the first place. As is the case with the next Yakuza game, Yakuza: Like A Dragon (also known as Yakuza 7). According to a recent tweet from the developer’s twitter account, paid DLC for the new Yakuza game (which, by the way, still isn’t even out yet in the western regions) will include a New Game Plus mode as well as a higher difficulty setting.

Of course many fans have been outraged by this news. Sure, NG+ doesn’t have to be in the base game (even if it would benefit from it *cough* Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen Order *cough*), but asking for players to pay for the additional mode is just ridiculous. And on top of that, it seems as if NG+ will only give you a second runthrough, not multiple.

The higher difficulty is also only available for your second runthrough of the game in NG+, further adding salt to the wound (which, in this case, I mean their own wound that they caused themselves by asking for money on a dlc that should be free).

It’s hard to see this as not a problem. Die-hard fans of the game are going to buy the dlc anyway because they’ll be wanting these modes, and this definitely shouldn’t become a norm in the games industry. If other companies like, say, just off the top of my head, EA for instance, see the value of doing something similar, who would stop them? And where would the line end? Will they decide to sell a paid DLC for NG+ in Star Wars: Jedi - Fallen order?

Or even Imagine buying a game, and just before the game properly finishes the credits just roll. Okay, terrible game, but you’ll still want a more satisfying ending. Then a month later the developer announces they will release a ‘proper’ ending to the game that you will have to pay for. How would you feel?

This all starts to stir up a lot of issues, and games companies need to take note of how the fan base will react (and have reacted to previous, similar instances) and not do stupid things like this. Even if they never intended to add these options before and then decided to later, asking for money for it just sounds greedy. I won’t be surprised if this negatively affects sales when the game finally comes out in western regions.

What do you make of all this? Will it become a norm in the industry? Let us know what you think!