When SEGA announced that they were going to be charging around £5 for a pack of four multiplayer maps for AvP it wasn’t the first time a developer had done this in a game but as it was the first time it had an impact on me (as I own the game in question) it was the first time I really thought about it. My first thoughts were of how stupid the idea of charging for extra multiplayer maps is and then I happened to come across another article on the same site just moments later. The article in question was an interview with the devs at Futuremark (They made Shattered Horizon, a niche multiplayer game that is still more popular than AvP multiplayer) and in it (among other things) they explained why paid DLC for multiplayer games shouldn’t be made.
Jukka: We are not opposed to selling additions in principle, but there are right and wrong ways to go about it. With multiplayer games for example, you don’t want to split the player community with artificial price fences on additional content. A paid update, if we ever do one, should not leave you feeling left behind if you don’t get it, or leave you feeling isolated if you do, but should instead feel like a natural and unconstrained choice to pay more if you want more.
Gaming and Tech Network 