Paid DLC & Microtransactions – these two game features are almost universally some of the biggest concerns for gamers the world over. Many gamers find nothing worse than to go and pay full price for a brand new video game, just to boot it up and be greeted with an offer to purchase the game’s season pass, which offers content over an extended period of time at a reduced price, or the option to open up an in-game store and use your real world money to purchase in-game items. While paid DLC and Microtransactions have shown no sign of slowing down with most major developers’ releases – just recently, Bungie and Activision’s Destiny implemented an all-new in-game store offering microtransactions in the form of exclusive emotes and other cosmetic items – but in an interview with Vice, Need For Speed Director Craig Sullivan has discussed the game’s model for distributing downloadable content, and expressing his thoughts that players deserve free DLC.
Upon being asked about the title not having any extra payments on top of the initial price of the core game, Sullivan had this to say:
” You can never say never, as if we ended up doing DLC for this game for 10 years, I can’t know what’s happening in 10 years’ time. All I can say is, honestly, hand on heart, is there are absolutely no plans to charge for content in this game. We’re going to give you everything for free. I’ve seen the plans for what’s going to happen over the next few weeks and months – there’s nothing in there, by which I mean, we don’t even have the ability to charge you in the game. There’s no store to speak of.
Everything we’re doing is focusing on listening to what the fans are asking for. They’re certainly not saying to us, “Can you build a load of stuff and charge us for it?” They’re not saying that, so we’re not doing that. I know some people when we do press like this, they say, “Yeah, but I’m sure it’ll all change in a week or two, or six months.” It’s not going to. The plan is that there are no transactions in this game. All of the content that we’re going to give you – a pretty substantial amount in the future, starting pretty soon – is going to be free. That’s what players deserve.”
After recent outrage at the Star Wars Battlefront season pass pricing, and the worry over how microtransactions would affect Destiny, it certainly is refreshing to hear someone working on a Triple A release vocalizing what fans have been saying for a long time.
What do you guys think of Sullivan’s comments, and of the whole state of downloadable content and microtransactions in video games today? Sound off in the comments below, and make sure to stay tuned to Gaming Respawn for all your gaming news and reviews.
Source: Vice