[sidlls]

Games ten years ago had DLC, too. Certainly not as much but it did exist, and often was priced on par with equivalent DLC offered today.

Also, it’s frequently the case that DLC today has development and maintenance costs that the base retail package simply doesn’t.

[Red_Leaves_Flyy]

Ten years ago it wasn't common for dlc to have unlimited purchases or even for the cumulative price to double the base cost. Now, it's rather common for games to have gambling mechanics that put a floor on the cost of time limited items that is measured in the hundreds or thousands of dollars.

I have less of a problem with buying a game and its season pass for $120 than I do when I buy a game and season pass for $120 to find thousands of dollars in iaps required to get everything. This trend is disgusting and I for one have written off all companies with even a single product engaging in this. This includes Blizzard, rockstar, Microsoft's label, bungie, Activision, ea, etc. To earn my purchases they'll need to ditch all the unethical iaps and find an ethical and sustainable business model. Though I'd rather see them go bankrupt and firesale all their ip to indie studios.

[sidlls]

The market exists in its current state because the gambling/loot box/DLC whales subsidize the rest of the market, because by far most of the rest of the market think they're entitled to $200 worth of content and support for $60 at retail and are very vocal about it.

I'm the last one to defend Big Business in any industry, but I've seen the gaming industry from the inside and as a consumer. Here's my opinion: gamers are absolutely the worst customer base I've ever seen.

[Red_Leaves_Flyy]

That's easy to say. There's certainly no dearth of miserable people that play video games and try to being everyone there down with them too. But these peoplealso act these ways in real life too.

I don't feel entitled to a $n game for less than $n. However, if a company sells 0.5 of a $n game for the $n price I will take issue with them. There is no shortage of half assed games sold with dlc and gambling for aaa prices. No man's sky is the epitome of this. How they didn't get arrested and sued for fraud/false advertising boggles my mind. The industry is ripe with huge promises from the scummy advertising department, that turn out to usually be a shadow of what was promised.

Studios cut just about every corner, blatantly reuse assets yoy in dlc/new titles, skimp on infra, and have the audacity to complain about the players being cheap? The industry has pushed away so many deep pockets with these awful tactics. Try delivering good products first without selling me a bridge.