DLC
DLC: The Great Gamer's Hustle
(Or, How We Went from Expansion Packs to Buying a Burger One Ingredient at a Time)
There was once a golden era in gaming, where you’d buy a game, and—get this—you’d actually own it. If developers had more content to add, they’d release a full-fledged expansion pack, an entire new experience that made the original game even better. Think Yuri’s Revenge from Red Alert 2, which gave us a whole new faction, new units, new campaign, and basically an entire game within a game.
But fast-forward to today, and the gaming industry has found a brilliant way to milk players dry: DLC (Downloadable Content). And I don’t mean the good kind, like The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine or Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty, where you get 15+ hours of actual content. No, I’m talking about the cash grab variety, where publishers sell you the game piecemeal, like a McDonald's cheeseburger where every extra ingredient is locked behind a paywall.
Would You Like to Buy Your Game in Pieces?
Imagine walking into a burger joint. You order a standard cheeseburger, only to find out:
- The bun comes standard.
- The patty? That’ll be $2 extra.
- Cheese? $1.50 DLC.
- Ketchup? Sorry, that’s in the “Condiment Battle Pass.”
- And if you want fries, well, they’re part of the Season Pass, which you’ll need to purchase in advance.
Sounds ridiculous, right? Welcome to modern gaming.
The Worst Offenders: EA, Ubisoft, and Overkill Software (Cough, Cough)
Somewhere along the way, publishers realized they could make way more money by chopping up content that should have been in the base game and selling it as DLC. Remember when you’d buy Battlefield and actually unlock weapons through gameplay? Yeah, EA decided that was too fair. Instead, they introduced Battlepacks, where you could just pay to get better gear, ruining balance and making progression meaningless.
And then there’s Cities: Skylines, which, despite being a great game, somehow managed to sell over a dozen DLC packs. Want mass transit? That’s extra. Want industries? Also extra. Want basic weather effects? Surprise, that’s locked behind a paywall too. You end up spending over $200 just to get the full experience. At that point, just buy a real city and run it into the ground like a true politician.
Oh, and let’s not forget Overkill Software and Payday 2. If you thought robbing virtual banks was fun, just wait until you try navigating their DLC store, where nearly half the weapons, heists, and characters are locked behind paid content. Imagine playing a heist game where half your crew has access to tools you don’t, just because they were willing to pay extra. What’s next? A DLC to reload your gun?
Shoutout to the Real Ones: CD Projekt RED
While most publishers are out here selling us the equivalent of a car without wheels and asking for extra cash to get it moving, CD Projekt RED actually does DLC right.
- The Witcher 3: Blood and Wine wasn’t just a DLC—it was practically a sequel, with a whole new map, dozens of new quests, and over 15 hours of gameplay.
- Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty wasn’t just an extra mission—it revamped entire game systems and added a massive new area with actual depth.
These are expansion packs, not the cheap, greedy “day-one DLC” nonsense we see elsewhere. When a DLC feels like a brand-new game, that’s when it’s worth it.
The Future: Even Worse Than You Think
With live-service models, battle passes, and microtransactions, DLC has evolved into an even worse nightmare. Imagine if Yuri’s Revenge had been released today:
- Want to play as Yuri’s faction? That’s a $10 microtransaction.
- Superweapons? You’ll need to buy the "Nuclear Supremacy Pack" for $20.
- Online multiplayer? Subscription-based YuriCoin needed.
This is where we’re heading. A world where you don’t buy a game, you buy pieces of a game until your wallet cries.
Final Thoughts: Vote with Your Wallet
At the end of the day, DLC should be about enhancing a game, not locking content away that should’ve been included from the start. Good DLC adds value—bad DLC is just extortion.
So here’s my advice: Support developers who do it right. If a game offers real expansion packs (like CDPR does), buy them. If a game is selling you half a burger and asking for more cash just to add the patty, let it rot on the shelf.
Because in the end, the only way to stop the great gaming swindle is to refuse to be the mark.
The Good, The Bad, and The Pay-to-Win: A Deep Dive into DLCs
DLCs used to be a way to expand a game—new maps, new quests, fresh mechanics, and hours of extra content. But somewhere along the way, game publishers realized something far more lucrative: they could just cut content out of the base game and sell it separately. Or better yet, sell pay-to-win mechanics disguised as “optional” DLCs.
Let’s break it down.
The Good DLCs – Expansion Done Right
These are the ones that actually add value. You know, the DLCs that feel like an extension of the game rather than a cash grab.
🎖️ The Witcher 3 – Blood and Wine & Hearts of Stone
Why it's good:
- Adds a whole new region (Toussaint) with 15+ hours of gameplay.
- Expands the story, introduces new mechanics, and doesn’t feel like cut content.
- It’s basically another game.
🎖️ Cyberpunk 2077 – Phantom Liberty
Why it's good:
- Introduces an entire new storyline with new characters, weapons, and locations.
- Fixes a ton of core mechanics, making the game significantly better.
- Adds real depth to the experience rather than just reusing assets.
🎖️ Dark Souls 3 – The Ringed City & Ashes of Ariandel
Why it's good:
- Expands the lore without feeling like it was cut from the base game.
- Adds incredible bosses, new areas, and genuinely rewarding challenges.
🎖️ Elden Ring – Shadow of the Erdtree (Upcoming)
Why it's promising:
- If FromSoftware’s past DLCs are any indication, this will likely be a true expansion rather than a cheap cash grab.
🎖️ GTA IV – The Ballad of Gay Tony & The Lost and Damned
Why it's good:
- Introduces entirely new campaigns, new vehicles, and more fun content.
- Feels like a true sequel experience rather than a tacked-on extra.
These DLCs feel like classic expansion packs, giving players a reason to revisit the game without feeling robbed.
The Bad DLCs – Cut Content & Greedy Cash Grabs
And now we get to the disasters—the DLCs that should have been in the base game but got sliced up for profit.
❌ Battlefield – Battlepacks (EA’s Pay-to-Win Scheme)
Why it’s bad:
- Offers weapon upgrades via microtransactions.
- Instead of earning better gear, you can just pay to unlock it instantly.
- Turns multiplayer into a wallet battle, where people who spend more have better weapons faster.
❌ Cities: Skylines – The $200+ DLC Scam
Why it’s bad:
- Basic core gameplay features (mass transit, industries, weather, disasters) are locked behind separate DLCs.
- The base game feels intentionally incomplete so they can sell you tiny feature updates as separate purchases.
- Buying all the DLC costs more than buying an actual city (probably).
❌ Payday 2 – The DLC Heist Gone Wrong
Why it’s bad:
- A massive amount of weapons, heists, and even gameplay features locked behind endless DLCs.
- Game balance was ruined by pay-to-win mechanics (until Overkill got shamed into fixing it).
- Playing without DLC feels like a demo of the full game.
❌ Street Fighter X Tekken – On-Disc DLC Scandal
Why it’s bad:
- Characters were already on the disc, but locked behind a paywall.
- Players were forced to pay for content that was already in their game.
- A prime example of corporate greed at its worst.
❌ The Sims 4 – The Nickel-and-Dime Nightmare
Why it’s bad:
- Basic life simulator features sold separately (want pets? That’s extra. Want seasons? Pay up.).
- Feels like a barebones cash grab where the real game costs over $500 if you buy all the expansions.
- EA knows people will pay for it, so they keep milking it indefinitely.
"DLC as Cheat Codes" – Unlocking Content with Your Credit Card
Back in the good ol’ days, if you wanted a cool weapon or a maxed-out character, you’d enter a cheat code. Now? You just swipe your credit card.
How Developers Turned Cheats into Paid DLCs:
- Old Games: Want infinite ammo? Enter a cheat code.
- New Games: Want infinite ammo? Buy the "Ammo Boost Pack" for $4.99.
- Old Games: Want to unlock all weapons? Beat the game.
- New Games: Want to unlock all weapons? Just pay for them.
- Old Games: Want to play as a cool new character? Finish a side quest.
- New Games: Want to play as a cool new character? Buy the “Character Unlock Pack” for $9.99.
Some shameless examples of this nonsense:
- Assassin’s Creed (Ubisoft) – Sells “Time Saver” packs that unlock upgrades instantly, instead of just letting you earn them through gameplay.
- Battlefield Battlepacks (EA) – Pay for better gear, because grinding is for poor people.
- Dead Space 3 (EA) – Pay real money for better weapons, because survival horror isn’t scary enough when you have disposable income.
Final Verdict: Not All DLCs Are Evil, But Most Are Cash Grabs
The Good:
✅ Expansion packs that feel like a real game (The Witcher 3, Bloodborne, Elden Ring, Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty).
✅ DLC that enhances the experience without feeling like cut content.
The Bad:
❌ DLC that should have been in the base game (Battlefield, Payday 2, Cities Skylines).
❌ DLC that sells basic features separately to milk more money (The Sims 4, Street Fighter X Tekken).
❌ DLC that just exists to make grinding unbearable unless you pay up (Ubisoft’s “Time Saver” packs).
The Ugly Truth:
Game publishers are finding new ways to extract money from players without actually adding real value. If DLC doesn’t feel like an expansion, it’s probably a scam.
So next time you see a game selling you “Bonus XP Boost” as DLC, just remember: that used to be a cheat code, and now it’s a business model.
