CD Projekt Does Witcher 2 DLC Right, Makes It All Free
- Thread starter Tom Goldman
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..That was before I had played The Witcher and fell in love with it. Honestly! <_<Continuity said:
I'll get them next March Mayhem.
Also, fucking win.
Meanwhile at CD Projekt's Headquarters...
Achievement Unlocked: The Impossible.
Unlocked when you don't follow the popular norm in developing video games.
Points: Infinite.
Achievement Unlocked: The Impossible.
Unlocked when you don't follow the popular norm in developing video games.
Points: Infinite.
Releasing free DLC is an absolutely great thing for a developer to do. Giving more to consumers for what they pay is something I will never criticize, and I respect a companies willingness to nurture long term consumer loyalty over short term money-making...however, I need to point out something here. They say that the DLC will be free, and they will only charge additional money for expansions. Pop quiz: In this situation, what is the difference between an expansion and a DLC? Answer: You pay for an Expansion. And you may have the option to get the expansion via a plastic disk (or maybe not). Really, what they are saying here is they may still charge you money for additional content, but don't worry, if they do charge money, they will CALL it an expansion. If you really do hate paid DLC, you might as well say, "I will never spit in your soup, but I reserve the right to call what you just ordered stew, and then I will totally spit in it".
Of course, this is all framing of your marketing for the sake of a sale. In reality, they are releasing a sweet looking game that will get new content down the line, and they are still willing to include major updates and additional content that would require you to pay for the De Facto DLC. Overall, maybe slightly sneaky, but in general, kudos for planning to support the game in a customer friendly way, and marketing it in a way that bypasses the irrational hate.
Of course, this is all framing of your marketing for the sake of a sale. In reality, they are releasing a sweet looking game that will get new content down the line, and they are still willing to include major updates and additional content that would require you to pay for the De Facto DLC. Overall, maybe slightly sneaky, but in general, kudos for planning to support the game in a customer friendly way, and marketing it in a way that bypasses the irrational hate.
This is a nice marketing strategy they've thought of. Hopefully it works out because then there's a slim chance we'll see others use it.
It's like the article WANTS this to become a flamewar about DLC. >>Marik Bentusi said:
Where did objectivity go?
Sadly this appears to be a very common trend with Headlines on the Escapist lately. Fanning the flames and joining unnecessary riots. If I want to hear opinions, I go to the Forums, now I have them thrown into my face in headlines.lovest harding said:
Ah well.
CD Project is great. CD Project also knows how to pull marketing; "free DLC" and their release of region locks are nothing but Marketing stunts, as much as people might want to believe they do all of this out of the goodness of their hearts.
I like DCL. I also like paying for it to support Developers.
Might be so, but people out there tend to not know that CDP didn't start like all the big boys from America or even western Europe. They started as a small retail shop importing games from US back in the days when in Poland you couldn't buy original games and only way to get them was from pirates.Anah said:
In mid 90ties pretty much 80% of videogame market in Poland was pirated copies sold on bazaars and weekend 'computer markets' yet CDP came out with a project that brought original classic releases, with translated manuals and boxes, for a low price of ~10$/game managing to convince customers to buy original products rather than bootleg copies.
It's not like they just came up with idea for fighting piracy, they did it exactly the same way since the start of their company, back when it was just two guys and a little shop that didn't had a big neon sign.
Getting Super-Collectors Edition in three days. With a big-ass bust of Geralt to stand it on my desk.
Your point being?Keava said:
That having roots makes them special? Every long standing company out there started small, whether they are from the US or not. From Valve, to Blizzard or BioWare. Even Publisher giants like EA. And Software behemoths like Microsoft.
What they are doing are PR stunts. Good PR stunts. Lovely PR stunts. And they work and that is brilliant and I tip my hat to them. BUT it doesn't give them angel wings and it doesn't justify biased news posts of "doing DLC" right. If I recall correctly, CDP does not only take its money from the sold games, but also from GoG, much like Valve has STEAM as its cash-cow that allows them to release free updates and develop at their own leisure.
Other developers do not have that luxury, they have to make due with the products they release and keep the cash coming in in order to be able to make more of them. And that is why this news post, in my opinion, is downright disrespectful.
It's not just DLC that CDProjekt does right... I received my Collector's Edition of The Witcher 2 in the mail this morning and I have to say it's the nicest, most well presented and best quality boxed game I've ever bought.
It's funny that the company that owns GOG and does digital distribution the way it should be done, also trumps every other publisher with their physical products too.
It's funny that the company that owns GOG and does digital distribution the way it should be done, also trumps every other publisher with their physical products too.
Games are a different kettle of fish. Retailers slash their prices to move stock, and the digital market has to stay competitive to remain relevant. Besides, that's kinda what people expect; if a game gets old, its worth drops, and it should cost less to distinguish itself from new releases. The worth of DLC never changes, as its worth is entirely dependent on someone owning the game in the first place.teebeeohh said:
That said, there are always exceptions.