Ubi to Charge for Xbox Downloadable Content

bippy writes "Ubisoft just announced that a four map pack for Rainbow Six 3 Black Arrow will cost $5. This comes on the heels of THQ's announcement that they will be charging $4.95 for a downloadable mission on Full Spectrum Warrior."

How these publishers see consumers.

[Goosey]

*pull string* The consumer says: "MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Keep milking.. >_

WOW

[VendingMenace]

considering that the WHOLE game costs $50. Charging 10% of that for 4 maps or 1 mission (which is basically a bunch of scrips and design) is a great freaking way for companies to make money hand over fist.

I wonder if this will become a trend. Instead of releasing large expansion packs, will companies start just releasing smaller cheaper "mini packs" at more frequent intervals? I wonder if that would be more effective. It seems like you might be able to sell more $$$ amount of stuff that way. I mean, that way, you could gradually see the gaming geography of your game change -- requiring EVERYONE to buy the expansions.

Right now, it seems like for many games that have expansions, there are still servers that play the non-expansion game. But if you release a few maps at a time, those maps might just be incorparated into the map rotaion of more existing servers and then people would have to buy the expansion to keep up. OH man.

Anyways, i am really impressed (an irritated) that companies have found yet another way to more efficeintly milk the consumer. Too bad that enough people will pay this rediculous price/content ratio -- and it will probably stick around. :(

Yeah, just my random ramblings :D

Ubi Soft and THQ

[aztektum]

Ubi should try diversifying their game selection in order to expand their audience instead of milking the Tom Clancy license.

Beyond Good & Evil and Prince of Persia are the only two Ubi games I've been interested in years.

THQ hasn't put out a game I've wanted to play since either the NES or SNES days I can't really remember.

Re:WOW

[jjhlk]

So vote with your wallet. But most people probably think it's worthwhile and will pay, so don't blame the companies.

Re:They have the same thing for PC's...

[hollismb]

I can spot what's missing: A friends list consistent across all games. Standardized interface/features for all games. Continued implementation of new features like Voicemail and clan support. Voice chat in every game. Dedicated servers for most games. A reliable and monitored network.

Re:They have the same thing for PC's...

[FiDooDa]

I wrote my previous post only to point out the missing argumentation from your post.

I was not following the marketing annoucements (or promises) when the Xbox was launched, so I'm assuming what you are stating is true. I bought my xbox late last year when it became a lot cheaper and I was not following any announcements prior to my purchase. This also means that I had no expectation of getting free downloadable content. On the other hand.

Last month, I came across a new downloadable map in Splinter Cell (well it wasn't that new, but I don't play too often). They were asking 5$ for it. In my book 5$ for a map is not a good deal and would of liked to get it for free. So I decided not to buy it. Case closed.

I would like to state one thing, if they are willing to inform us that the game is capable of downloading content on xbox live, they should then also be forced to tell us (on the package) if they will be asking money for that content.