Left 4 Dead DLC, SDK Announced 66
Today Valve announced plans for Left 4 Dead's first DLC, called The L4D Survival Pack. It will include a new game mode and two campaigns for Versus mode. The new content is coming to both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game (a PS3 port to the base game still seems unlikely). The press release goes on to say, "In addition, for PC gamers and aspiring developers, the first Left 4 Dead release for the Source Software Development Kit (Source SDK) will allow the creation of custom Left 4 Dead campaigns that will be discoverable via L4D's matchmaking system. The SDK update is also due for release this spring, and is free of charge to all owners of L4D on the PC." The Opposable Thumbs blog also reports on a way to play Left 4 Dead in 3D.
Long gone are the days of FREE extra content. (Score:3, Interesting)
Don't get me wrong: I own all the games by Valve (because I -know- they will be/are quality), but I guess that they also can't resist of milking their customers a bit more.
With all their previous (multiplayer) games we've seen them release loads of maps/content for free to the community: See it as a reward for their loyal fanbase.
But now that they see that each and every developer can get away with charging money for extra content, they shamefully also go that way.
Some might say: "They released patches for free!" , but that's their obligation, ifnot in their own interest because otherwise bad publicity about an unbalanced/unplayable game would get out, thus tarnishing Valve's reputation.
So yes, I'm quite pissed off that they immedeately go for extra content which you have to buy...
P.S. As a sidenote, the release of the SDK is very cool, but people should realise that even without it, there is already a thriving custom-map community at the moment. [shameless plug]Have a look at my own (beta) version of a shopping mall map: Download it from here [nosoup.net]. Keep in mind it's very much a beta, and that for now only one small part of the mall is actually done (pathway-wise). Comments are welcome though.[/shameless plug]
Re:$0.00 (Score:3, Interesting)
From what I understand, Microsoft requires DLC to be for-pay
Not true. I believe that Microsoft can require DLC to be for-pay if the game servers are hosted by Microsoft (from the TF2 and Gears of War controversies about content pricing). Burnout Paradise, hosted at EA's servers, has had a sizable amount of free DLC. I seem to recall when Left 4 Dead was released, Valve made a big deal about how they're hosting the servers because of the whole TF2 fiasco with Microsoft.