Dragon’s Dogma, Capcom’s open-world fantasy RPG that released yesterday, has been the subject of some controversy that Capcom fans are now well familiar with. On-disc DLC was the cause of consumer uproar when it was learned that Street Fighter x Tekken contained locked content on the shipped discs that could be purchased on launch day.
So is it a slap in the face when, immediately after loading your game from the menu, a notice pops up listing the DLC that’s currently available, as of launch day? Players are instructed that they can access downloadable packs that grant them stronger pawns, new hairstyles and armour, and new quests.
It doesn’t annoy me, except for having to linger on the screen a few extra seconds, listening to menu music that sounds like it was ripped from a cheesy anime theme song. I don’t feel cheated of content from an experience that will already last up to 100 hours. It’s a reminder of Capcom’s policy that allows them to include on-disc, locked content, but it’s nothing we didn’t already know. Dragon’s Dogma is also not the only game that opens with DLC reminders, Mass Effect 3 being a recent example. Granted, it’s not as obtrusive as the pop-up in Dragon’s Dogma, but the in-game advertisement for additional content is certainly not an unfamiliar concept.
Capcom claimed that after such distate for this practice, they’re now “re-evaluating/” the decision to include locked content that they say would make it more compatible and reduce the need for patches. Dragon’s Dogma wasn’t able to make the cut before this policy came under discussion, so it was, according to Capcom, unavoidable.
Regardless, I imagine many of you are still upset that not only is Capcom delivering yet another title with locked content for purchase, but they’re brandishing it in your face before you can even settle into the game. And it will happen every time you load the game, too. Is it enough to raise the pitchforks? Are you perturbed? Do tell.
I’ve reached out to Capcom to inquire about any updates on the on-disc DLC policy, and I’ll update should there be any new information.
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