DLC is part of gaming now, and nothing that anyone can do is going to change that, says Capcom.
Capcom’s Christian Svensson has defended the company’s decision to include downloadable characters, like the recently announced Jill Valentine and Shuma-Gorath, in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, saying that that DLC can make the difference between a profitable product, and an unprofitable one.
Writing on the Capcom Unity message boards, Svensson responded to the accusation that having downloadable characters in MvC 3 was “wrong.” He said that for better or worse, downloadable content was part of the business model for games now, and with the cost of producing games ever higher, it played a big part in making sure that developers and publishers saw a return on their investment. He added that every gamer had to decide whether DLC was worth the money, and that was true of every game, not just MvC 3.
One thing that Svensson didn’t reveal was how much DLC would cost. Responding to a poster who asked how much he could expect to pay for Valentine and Shuma-Gorath if he bought separately from the Special Edition, Svensson said that he didn’t know when the pricing would be announced, but reassured the poster – who could get a ten dollar credit for the regular edition, and so was effectively looking at paying $20 more the Special Edition just to get the characters – that it would be cheaper to buy the regular version of the game and then pick up the DLC.
Honestly, I’m not sure why people would be upset about downloadable characters for MvC 3. If the line-up on the disc was small, then I could understand why people might be angry, but there are dozens of fighters to choose from – including several that are brand new to the series – so it’s not as if Capcom is short-changing anyone. The potential roster for a game this size is immense, so Capcom will inevitably have to leave a lot of characters out. DLC means that those characters have a chance of appearing further down the road, which seems like it could really only be a good thing.
You could argue that Capcom is purposefully holding popular characters for DLC, but there are plenty of high-profile fighters on the disc, even if your personal favorite is currently missing. You could also make the argument that a downloadable character might be “top-tier” and trounce everyone else, but it’s hard to believe that Capcom would be shortsighted as to stick an “I Win” button into the game.
Marvel vs. Capcom 3 comes out for PS3 and Xbox 360 on February 15th.
Source: via Event Hubs
