Allow me to quote myself from the
last time the day-one DLC thing came up:
Anyways, I said that I would have a post with my thoughts on the Day One DLC, and here it is:
Basically, my main argument here is this: How does it follow that ready on day one means it was done when the game shipped?
In the past, Forza games have generally 'gone gold' roughly a month before the game comes out. That means that anything that will be on the disk needs to be done. In my mind, that means that the gold day is when any development of things that are intended to be included in the $60 game will stop. That $60 should cover everything that is developed before the game goes gold, and all of those things should go on the disk.
Here's the sticking point for me: Assuming that the game goes gold about a month before it releases, that leaves, for the sake of argument, 4 weeks from that day until the game comes out. Even if only 150 people work only 40 hour weeks for that time period, that's 24,000 hours of additional development that can happen between the gold date and launch. Now, we all know that T10 employs a lot more than 150 people, and we also know that working 60-90 hour weeks is not uncommon when it's crunch time in the video game industry, so it's probably a lot more than 24,000 hours of work that potentially could be done.
That work, completed after the game goes gold but before it comes out, could potentially have tangible assets ready on the day the game comes out. Like say, I don't know, a car pack? The other car packs for Forza are spaced 1 month apart, which means that it's fairly easy to assume that it takes roughly one month to create them. And how much time is there between gold day and street day? That's right, roughly one month.
Now, I can already hear the argument that “they have pictures so clearly it's done now” and that's total garbage. In video games, a picture is the equivalent (to borrow the earlier metaphor) of a concept car. Just because it's up on stage doesn't mean it's ready to sell. A picture is really easy, but that hardly means that the car is 100% done and fully usable in the game. It could mean that, but it could also not mean that at all. Assuming that it does mean that it's done is baseless (just as assuming that it isn't done is) and unless you have evidence, I see it merely as pointless speculation.
Basically then, the argument that the day 1 car pack should be free is an argument that the developer should not be paid for a month of work they did after the game went gold, and that's where it loses me. I'm all for free stuff, but let's face it, this is a multibillion dollar industry, and giving away free stuff isn't high on the list of good business practices. Some free stuff, sure, and T10 has given us some free stuff in other games, but on a consistent basis you need to charge people if you're doing work.
If the work is done after the game goes gold, why shouldn't they charge for it? How is using that month any different from using the month after the game comes out? Just because it's ready on launch day doesn't mean it's ready on gold day.
Now, DG touched on that a bit in that article. He said:
Dan Greenawalt
Turn 10 designed and developed Forza 5 cars in waves, so that the final 200 could be ready in time to be included on-disc. Months later, the developer began work on the various vehicles that will be delivered as day-one DLC
So, basically, they are working on assets that are not going to be ready when the game goes gold, but will be ready on launch day, or a month after launch day, or 3 months after launch day. The important part is that they will
not be ready for release on gold day.
The argument that day-one DLC be free, or that any DLC that had work done on it before the game went gold be free, is a little bit ridiculous to me. It makes the situation very difficult for developers; effectively it means that anything they worked on, at all, during development and were unable to finish by gold day has to go one of two ways: either they scrap it because it isn't ready in time, or they continue working on it after the game is 'done' and then effectively do not get paid for that extra work.
So would all the paid day one DLC haters prefer that those cars just never make an appearance instead? Because as I see it, that's the better option from a business standpoint; if you're not going to be paid for the work, why do it? And that's what the videogame industry is: a business.
The counter argument for this is that since they worked on it before the game came out, they got paid for it in the game sales right? And I don't totally disagree with that, but it does run into a bit of a problem. Pretty much any DLC that comes out within 6 months of the game had at least a rudimentary amount of work or planning done on it before the game came out. Therefore, by the above logic, those DLCs should also be free, even if the content wasn't
finished for several months after the game came out, because it was
started before the game came out.
I think that unless you are against paid DLC in its entirety, you would agree that developers should be paid for work they are doing after the game comes out. Saying you agree with that but have a problem with day-one paid DLC is a bit of a nebulous distinction; you're drawing an arbitrary line in the sand as to what you think it's ok to charge for. If day-one DLC isn't ok, what about week one? Month one? There's no way that any meaningful DLC released a month after the game didn't have at least
some work done on it before the game launched.
There's no basis for the stigma beyond an arbitrary point where everything that's finished by this date should be free because reasons. That's what bothers me about the whole thing, the incredible double-standard of it. People are ok paying for DLC that they perceive as being developed after the game releases, but their perception of what constitutes that time period is arbitrary at best.
Personally, I see day one DLC the same way I see all DLC. If I think it's worth the money, I'll buy it. If I don't, I won't. And if you feel that it's been 'held back' from the game, then look at the game, ask yourself 'is this worth my money without X car?' and if the answer is no, don't buy the game. Just because X car is available to purchase on top of the game shouldn't really inform your decision on if the game is worth your money. It's not like you can't play it without that premium DLC, you just can't play it with that car without the premium DLC. It's up to you to decide if you think either one is worth your money or not.