BA5 Contextual Studies - Entry 2

Having looked at the introduction of the internet as a major change to the industry, I have decided to concentrate on a singular aspect of  this revolutionary progression. The impact the internet had, and continues to have on video gaming is massive, and is too vast to cover effectively. So I have chosen to look at DLC, or 'downloadable content'. This is additional content players can download onto their existing game, for a price, or sometimes for free. The precise nature of this content could be any number of things. For example, it could be extra ‘skins’ for characters in the game world.  Alternatively, additional multiplayer or single player environments.  You maybe able to play as whole new character within the game’s already existing story.

Downloadable content is additional content for an existing game. Therefore, they can only ‘work’ if someone first buys the actual game. So DLC needs people to get past this preliminary hurdle before they can have a chance of enticing an audience to purchase them. From a financial standpoint, DLC can prolong a game’s longevity in terms of generating profit. After initial sales of a game have begun to diminish, DLC can inject a new lease of life into a game’s fading sales figures.  DLC can be a powerful tool in this way. For example, take an already popular franchise like the ‘Call of Duty’ series , and then consider the sheer amount of DLC released after a game itself was released. In 2010, when ‘Call of Duty: Black Ops’ came out, four additional ‘map packs’ were made available in the months after it came out. These were spaced out over a year, culminating in the release of the next title, 2011’s ‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’. Therefore, never letting up on ‘new releases’ for too long, and always making money. DLC is not in itself a game; rather it acts as a extension. Although, the capability to download entire games also exists. The digital size of the games avalible to download is unimportant. Anything from small, 2D flash games, to triple A titles, which take up gigabytes of space on a hard rive.

Before the advent of the Internet, adding digital content to a game you have bought was unheard of.  Nowadays, you cannot say with certainty that you have wholly bought a game. There will invariably be something else for a player to buy or download. So in a way, DLC can be seen as just another marketing tool, to make even more money on top of the initial sales of a game.