New Report Shows that DLC is a Huge Money Maker

Green is income from DLC--$921 million last year.

There has been a lot of buzz about the fact that Electronic Arts (EA) earnings report showed that an alarming amount of their income comes from the purchase of downloadable content (DLC).  This DLC can take the form of a chunk of additional content in a game or microtransactions used in many smaller digital games.  No matter how you feel about DLC it's plain that developers are making some serious cash. EA made $921 million from DLC alone.  (Here is an article)

I don't really know how to describe my feelings toward DLC and will freely admit to purchasing it, especially for the games I love.  It's a little irritating to have to pay more (and it's usually not cheap) but you do get extra content that can make your favorite games even better.  However, I do get irritated at things like release day DLC.  Really?  Why call it DLC if it's included in the game?  I think of Mass Effect 3's "From Ashes" which was included as part of your purchase and boasted adding a new teammate.  I also get irritated at games that seem to take the DLC thing to the extreme.  The Sims series is notorious for all the DLC that is offered to players--some do add new locations or experiences but others simply add-in more items.  Players could easily spend hundreds of dollars on new content for their game.  Borderlands is another series that seems to release a huge glut of DLC.  Some of it fun and some of it less enjoyable.  I am mostly selective when I buy DLC and opt for add-on's that will expand the game experience as opposed to simply adding in new items or cosmetic features.

Will I stop buying DLC in protest?  Probably not.  Some of my favorite content has come in the form of DLC that I paid extra for.  Mass Effect 3's "Citadel" gave me such warm, fuzzy feelings that it helped me get over the trauma from the initial horrible ending to that game.  Should we as consumers be outraged that companies are making such a killing from DLC?  Maybe.  I think we should applaud developers like CD Projekt Red who make it a point to avoid making gamers pay for additional content in games and focus on creating the best experiences for them.