'I'm not the biggest fan of having to do it, but it is one of the unfortunate realities'
On-disc downloadable content is an ugly truth of the games industry, says Cliff Bleszinksi.
Speaking to GameSpot, the Gears of War creator said that whilst he was not a big fan of the process, some of the extra content has to be put on disc due to potential compatibility issues.
"When you're making a game, and you're getting into a ship cycle, there's often three or four months where the game is basically done. And you have an idle team that needs to be working on things," he said.
"And often for compatibility issues, day one, some of that content does need to be on-disc. It's an ugly truth of the gaming industry. I'm not the biggest fan of having to do it, but it is one of the unfortunate realities."
Bleszinksi’s comments come after it was revealed that Capcom had shipped Street Fighter X Tekken with locked content, which included 12 new characters, that could only be accessed after the content was purchased as DLC.
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A spokesperson for the publisher said that whilst it was sorry some fans were not happy with the delivery method, there was “effectively not distinction” between DLC being locked behind the disc and content available through download at a later date.
I'm sorry, but I'm not convinced.
Compatibility? That's what your QA department is for - testing.
Having content ready for day 1 and not adding it too the game is a business decision to cash on the IP.
Saying it's due to technical reasons doesn't make sense to me.
And if the team finishes the development cycle 4 months ahead of schedule, make them polish the game.
The 3-4 months will be external testing from the publishers (who do compatibility) and pressing from the master disc, all resources will be locked down months before shipping anyway. I doubt that anyone finishes ahead of schedule.
I am convinced you are not a developer.
...is that they think consumers are stupid enough to believe all of the stories trying spin this issue into a "necessary evil". If the content is ready to put onto the disc when the master is created, it's ready to give to the consumer. Anything else is a blatant attempt at gouging consumers.
