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ARMAN BORGHEM

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Nynäshamn, Sweden

Hi there! My name is Arman Borghem, and I’m a storyteller/game designer living in the Stockholm region of Sweden. I’ve worked on games, short film, fiction and audio dramas. I’ve also been known to write the occasional rant, analysis and opinion piece. Looking for those last few things? Then you've found the right place!

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The Deal with DLC

DLC. Obviously controversial for some. Having started out a DLC skeptic years ago, I now look at the debate on the practice with great puzzlement. Why are some people so provoked by it? And why arenï¿½t they using better arguments? Because I do believe they have a point. Itï¿½s just that time and again, it seems to get lost in the shouting match.

Friday, December 31, 2010 | Comments (2)

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On Arman Borghem's The Deal with DLC

"I don't have any figures, but the impression I get is a smaller portion of games support modding while more have DLC. One doesn't necessarily preclude the other, but why support modding for a moderately successful "standard" FPS when there already are the likes of Source and Unreal Engine 3 on the market? The argument for total conversions is kind of lost because there already are great tools out there with a larger potential audience. Unless the engine has a killer feature which can't be replicated in the other engines, modders are probably going to look elsewhere. As for smaller mods, the developer's going to weigh the cost of supporting modding (and its goodwill benefits) against the cost of developing DLC (and the revenue from that). A savvy developer will support the equivalent of typical mods right out of the box anyway, see the large number of multiplayer modes in the Modern Warfare games as well as obvious examples like TrackMania, LBP and ModNation Racers. Also, Bungie with Forge.

I love Valve for their modding support. Counter-Strike, Insurgency, Neotokyo, Empires... all great mods. But they've also sold a hell of a lot of Source engine games which the mods can run on. To reiterate, modding support makes sense for some developers, but not for most. DLC on the other hand, probably makes sense for a lot more.

As for DLC characters in fighting games, again the importance of the developer being straightforward becomes vital. It's up to the developer to decide what they're selling, but consumers have a right to know what they're paying for - before they pay. Otherwise the developer's trying to sell you something else than what you paid for, and that's just bad manners."

Saturday, January 01, 2011