Technically I suppose it’s 2K who want you to buy lots and lots of DLC for Evolve, but whoever it is they’re not doing the game’s prospects any major favours.

The post on Evolve’s official site explaining all the different editions, permutations, DLC combinations and season pass contents is almost 1,000 words long. When a game needs close to 1,000 words to list all the different versions and what they do, they have either screwed up or are being published by Ubisoft.

What’s worse is that the post is phrased as if selling prospective players all this stuff (which isn’t even out yet) is doing them a favour.

“Think of it as us buying the first round for you,” says the paragraph about the ($15.00) “Monster Expansion Pack” being included with pre-orders of the game, “As a thank you.”

No, Turtle Rock. Let’s think of it as being pressured into buying a $60 drink we may not even like very much, under the threat of it becoming a $75 drink (or a three-quarters full $60 one) later in the evening. Because that’s what’s really happening in this bizarre drinking analogy you’ve constructed for us.

Boo, and indeed, hiss.

So, the $60 game has three monsters (Kraken, Goliath, Wraith) in it, along with 12 different hunters. The extra monster (Behemoth) will cost $15. Another four hunters will be tucked away in a $25 season pass. For a game that was already looking a little light on value for $60 (judging by the alpha/beta sessions,) this is a really unpalatable marketing strategy.

Speaking of marketing, whoever called the $99 PC version the “PC Monster Race Edition” needs a real stern talking to. That’s the edition where you get something approaching what appears to be a full game, at least. But it costs $99.

The small slice of good news is that players will be able to take part in matches involving DLC monsters/hunters they don’t own, so at least this stuff won’t be completely butchering a fledgling community.

To summarise, then. Evolve is available in several simple iterations: the PC Deluxe Hunter Season Monster Pass Behemoth Exclusive Skins Edition ($83.20, with exclusive pre-load,) the DLC Premium Master Kraken Collector’s Behemoth box ($130,000 with free Ferrari) and basic Steam edition ($60, probably comes with disappointment.)

Nice and clear.