Hey, allright, something new to shoot people in COD4. Will surely give them a try, haven't played CoD4 for the past 2 months. Work life, I hate thee.

Shiryu

i agree. 360 owners have to pay for a yearly service (albeit a superior one)as well as downloadable content

kickassy

Man, is everyone getting the maps free?
The only people who had to pay for these were the people who bought the 360 version on day one.

Coquiton

Heh, you guys got it good. I gotta say the map pack was worth paying for on the 360. Then again, I absolutely love COD4.

Br00klyn-Grenade

Too bad I have it on a the 360. Maybe I'll buy the pc version, and enjoy the custom mods and such.

Or continue playing Counter Strike Source :D

kumuasata

ATI, retaliate and release the retail game for freeee!

k30248

woot. pc gaming ftw

kickassy

@wicko: I don't mind paying for extra content if I feel it is something I will use and enjoy. I don't have this rampant sense of entitlement like some people seem to have.

I paid for a product, knowing full well additional content may later come out. I made the decision based on the possible merits of said content. I purchased. I can't really make an issue over ten dollars. It's not like their asking for a finger or two.

Destrudo

@k30248: AMD doesn't even have the money to develope chips on the same level as Nvidia. They even said so themselves that they would be just going the multi-gpu route becuase they can't make single powerful chips.

Maybe they should kettlecook them in 100% sunflowerseed oil.

sovietspartan

@kickassy: Superior to what exactly? In terms of Console gaming then yes, but compared to PC...LOL

Winterbringer

lol, i would be surprised if they actually to charged for the maps...

rinerdar

Oh hell yes, this is long overdue.

Time to suit up in my Ghillie and pwn some more nubs.

Tyber_Zann

@Destrudo: Dude-- map packs, patches, and bonus content are supposed to be free. They keep your community alive longer, leading to more sales (from people who are late to the party), and people who are more likely to purchase your sequels. After you pay $50 or $60 for a game you shouldn't have to pay for scraps.

DLC is good if it amounts to significant shit. Shivering Isles, for example, was good DLC. Map packs and horse armor? Fuck that.

Harmatia

PC gamers never had to buy map packs until the paid downloadable content started to hit the consoles.

MoeB

@Destrudo:
What I don't understand is why you guys aren't complaining about being charged for mappacks..

wicko

Why do I now have the feeling all the people that were bashing the PC gaming yesterday on [kotaku.com] are now just going to bitch about PCs getting free stuff.

Hand_O_Death

About bloody time! Thank you IW. This has made my day.

MasterDex

Nice one, NVIDIA. I'm sure some people will still find some way to bitch about a free map pack, seeing as how the some of the less desirable people out there feel they should get extra content for free just because they flash their "super-1337" PC gamer badges.

Destrudo

What? Owen, you honestly expect us to be grateful for something like this? Map packs have almost ALWAYS been free for PC gamers. 360 owners should never have been charged in the first place.

I find it very sad that nowadays PC gamers are supposed to get excited over scraps..

wicko

@CCCombobreaker: You can find it as little as 29.99. That's how much I got it for, just check your weekly ads. That's how much I paid for it at Best Buy.

sovietspartan

@sovietspartan: No, it counts as being a bit pathetic to be honest.
PC looking like a gay disco != respect

NecronomiconUK

Oh, thanks! I just got it about 2 weeks ago and added the Flag pick guard. Would have been completely crazy and illogical to put a Soviet flag on a American Standard Fender :P

sovietspartan

pc gaming is dead...
I don't think so!

uninterested gamer

Heh. Cool I guess. I won the xbox 360 version though so I cant bring myself to spend $50 on the pc version.

CCCombobreaker

@sovietspartan:
Probably, but then again case windows and lights don't really impress me much. On the other hand, love the guitar.

Destrudo

@Destrudo:
"I am more than happy to pay someone for their hard work."

Thats right. Because of that, you bought the game. Charging for map packs, on the other side, has NOTHING to do with "giving the dev the money he deserves". Thats just greedy!

Kajetan

@ Owen Good
PS3 users have to pay for the maps as well

NecronomiconUK

Us ps3 owners had to pay for it as well, but bummed but oh well...

scuba2steve

@Harmatia:
Don't think I've every made a purchase thinking "Gee,they (the developer) really did release a few nice maps for free in addition to the dozens of patches I was requried to download so the game is semi-playable, think I'll buy the sequel".

But I digress on the subject of countless PC patches past. I don't require little gifts to garner my loyalty to a developer. If they release a quality experience then that is all I need. I am more than happy to pay someone for their hard work.

Destrudo

@Winterbringer meant to say to PS3

kickassy

@Destrudo: Hey does this count as flashing my "super-l33t OMGWTFALIENBBQ" PC badge? [img.photobucket.com]
:)

sovietspartan

@Winterbringer: Just let them be happy :) If you have to pay for everly little bit of service, feature and bonus maps, you HAVE to find anything good about it. Otherwise, well, ... ;)

Kajetan

@excel_excel: I can see it now, Burger King Horse Armor for Elder Scrolls 5.

sovietspartan

Why can't more companies 'sponsor' map pack releases?? It'd mean free advertising and free stuff for fans! everybody happy!

excel_excel

@NecronomiconUK: If you think its gay becuase its pink, it's actually supposed to be red, the camera picks it up as orange/pink though. Not sure why.
[img.photobucket.com]

@Destrudo: Actually I don't care if he's ripping on the actual system, it's a pretty high end system, so his remark means just about as much to me as if he said my car was gay becuase I drive pink Bugatti Veyron.

sovietspartan

@Destrudo: It's hardly a difference of opinion when you're saying things like "self-righteousness" and "rampant sense of entitlement". I'm not trying to convince of anything other than "its not what you think (at least for me)".

wicko

@NecronomiconUK:
That's a bit harsh. To each their own. You don't have to like it but that doesn't mean you have to cut down his computer.

I'll dislike the things people put their time and money into, but I still respect that it's important to them.

Destrudo

What is that latest weirdo speak sign "<3" supposed to mean anyway?

Asbestos_Underwear

@Destrudo: Rampant sense of entitlement? You've got it wrong. I don't feel *entitled* to anything. I don't expect the developers to make extra maps at all. And I am, in fact, grateful we're getting new maps (just not grateful that they are free).

The problem here, is that publishers are trying to push the limits of what people will pay for. Originally, map packs were free on the PC. It kept the community going and advanced sales. Now, publishers are trying to get every scrap of cash they can. You probably heard what they tried to do with Battlefield: Bad Company.. its getting a little ridiculous.

Also, this has nothing to do with the amount it costs. This is about the principle of doing this in the first place. But ask yourself this, how much do the developers actually make, with these mappacks, compared to making it free? I'd imagine it isn't much, if anything at all. Maybe a small bonus? I honestly doubt it though.

wicko

@Kajetan:
It's a difference of opinions. I value things differently than you. Is that so terrible? I never said I was angry at having to pay. Never even directly said PC gamers not having to pay was unfair (don't care either way). I said PC gamers would still find a reason to bitch and was thus vindicated by some of the posts here today.

Try and enjoy the maps guys. It might be hard with all that self-righteousness in the way.

Destrudo

@sovietspartan: I can see it now!! Free DLC with your next happy meal! ITS THE FUTURE!

excel_excel

It is a post on a sunday morning, stop picking on Owen for it, YES it deserves coverage like any other gaming news. For God's sake, if you can read about hot dog arms on Bionic Commando, I would like to read about when I am getting more maps.

Hand_O_Death

@Harmatia: extra content should help keep games off the used market, but would most likely not affect new game purchases. Sure, they could add it as a bonus on some GoTY edition (like they already have), but in general people aren't going to say "well this only has 12 original maps in it right now..." and avoid it just for that.

I do think it's a little more than amusing that the people bitching about free/not free are the ones spending a few grands to maintain a 'gaming PC.' Considering how much I spent on new PC gear myself in the past, I think the move to consoles saved a lot more money even counting in all the extra Imas DLC costumes and songs.

muu

I can't believe they get coverage for releasing a 'free' map pack. Map packs should be free anyway, and even if they weren't - mappers would replicate the maps within months for PC. Ick. Paying for a map pack....

On another note, I'm disappointing with the mod community in cod4, there's not much out there.

suntorytime

@wicko:
Well it certainly sounds like you feel you're entitled to free shit. I won't argue semantics with you though.

Developers don't need to "keep the community going" nearly as long because now they have millions of dollars to spend and huge teams to create games at an even faster pace. You can't fault a company for maximizing profit wherever possible. That's what they are there for, to make money. Welcome to the evolving world of modern-day business.

Everything changes over time. I don't totally disagree with the other side but I'm not going to sit here and feel that I doomed gaming because I indulged in a map pack. Considering I bought COD4 for myself for 40 bucks last Christmas on Amazon, I don't mind dropping some change into the pot.

Destrudo

@excel_excel:
Because most developers release PC content for free anyway,

Sainted

@sovietspartan: I'd buy that for a dollar

wicko

@Kajetan:
Let's be reasonable and not pretend there's not DLC that's truly even worse.

Ace Combat 6 Idolm@ster planes, anyone?

Destrudo

@Destrudo: "Is that so terrible?"

You wanting to pay for DLC? No, of course not! It's your money, it's your choice. I have no right to judge that :))

But charging (!) for this kind of minimal DLC, that (!) is terrible

Kajetan

@Hand_O_Death: That's true for some games like Counter Strike 1.6 and Source but not true for others like BF:2 Euroforce and armorforce or whatever the hell they are called and is also not true for BF2142 northern strike. I would like to add, that I love my Battlefields and own every single one of them except those 3 overpriced crap expansions.

sovietspartan

@Coquiton:

Wrong. PS3 owners had to pay for them. Actually, we paid more than you, since Sony charges tax on DLC.

prmononoke

I also want to add that you could not charge for PC map packs because if the server has a specific map, then your PC automatically starts downloading it from the hosting server, so it would be pointless to charge.

Hand_O_Death

Map packs have always been free, it's what keeps the community alive and keeping people coming back for more. This wouldn't even be a news story pre-console microtransactions galore. It's a shame too, kids are growing up thinking it's rare or something special to get maps for free. I can understand expansion packs, but not maps. More power to nvidia for stepping in too, but I would imagine IW would have released them for free either way.

dozerking

@muu: I think you missed something. The point isn't that the extra maps is incentive for people to buy it. The extra maps keep the people who've already bought the game playing. You keep people playing, more people will hear about the game. More people will buy it. It also shows that a company is willing to support their game, and this is favourable because people will be more inclined to buy the next one. This happened to me with Soldier of Fortune. I loved the 2nd one (I was a latecomer to this as well, it had a great community and lasted a long time, giving me a chance to play) and I was very excited for the 3rd one, even though it looked sketchy. In the end, I didn't buy it, because I found out it was a shit game. If I had not heard of SOF2, I wouldn't have paid any attention at all to SOF3.

wicko

I'll admit, I totally expected this to be free in the first place, even if it is subject to the good ol' law of pc release delay (cough GTA4).

Nevertheless, if Activision was trying to squeeze more money out of us I'm glad Nvidia stepped up to help pc gamers out. Nice to have *someone* actively supporting the platform apart from Gabe Newell :p

ZhouYu

@Asbestos_Underwear: Looks like "heart"...or someone's junk...^v^

relic1980

Stuff like this should ALWAYS be free. It really perplexed me why all of a sudden people are expected to pay for content updates.

Kenny

@Destrudo: Don't make me shoot red-smoke QAAMs at you from my Haruka-san F-22 planes.

muu

@sovietspartan: I know what you are saying but those technically are "Expansion packs", even if if it is not realy worth buying, because they have new vehicles and weapons or whatever, not just maps. when it is just maps they just download, they make it soe people can make custom maps for the games which I love about PC gaming

Hand_O_Death

@Hand_O_Death: That's not true either, any of the Project Reality maps or others, do not automatically download. You have to dled the mod and the maps manually and add them yourself. And for example, just custom maps also have to be manually downloaded and added. Never has a server provided me with a map on any game besides counterstrike that I can remember.

sovietspartan

TF2, CoD4, Doom 3, BF2 are ones that I deal with personally have dealt with that automatically download. But I should not say all, you are right, since I have not played all, but the popular ones I have played any custom maps automatically download along with partial mods. Full changeover mods are a different story, those I go to www.moddb.com for.

Hand_O_Death

@Kenny:

People are expected to pay for it because they know people *will* pay for it. IW sold over a million Variety Map Packs in a little over a week. They'd be insane to give something away for free that people are more than willing to pay for.

It sucks, but that's the way the industry is moving.

skullivan

@MasterDex: Hand O Death was saying all games do this, and I was specifically pointing out that not all games do this, AKA BF2 and BF2142.

And €5 for you is like $100 American Bush Dollars. :)

I didn't know COD4 automatically downloaded custom maps for you, but that is cool. I mainly play the original maps so I didn't know.

sovietspartan

@sovietspartan: COD4 downloads the custom maps to you game when you join a custom map server. It's all automatic.

And Northern Strike was hardly expensive. Granted it wasn't much of an expansion but it cost what? €5?

I don't mind paying for good downloads but they have to be worth the money. The variety map pack would be worth my money if they had decided to sell it to me (even as a PC gamer) since I've played the game to death since getting it.

MasterDex

@Hand_O_Death: BF2 never dled any maps for me though. I wonder why, perhaps those servers were running the mod so therefore I was required to have the mod and the maps.

Oh and MODDB for the win, there is this one mod for BF2, Allied Intent Extended, which I absolutely love :P

sovietspartan

@muu: @muu: There are some of us who stick to PC gaming because it's cheaper, actually. If you can build it yourself, have a pirated copy of windows, were getting a PC anyway for school/work, cheaper games...

I think us PC gamers do feel a bit entitled, though. Some of us did make a huge investment on our PC. All of us can easily pirate the game and have it for free, and when we choose not to, its a little annoying having developers go after our lunch mone after we already laid down the $50. Modders will often provide us with tons of free maps of comparative or superior quality... And many of us have been playing games long enough to remember when devs gave out free stuff without whining.

Harmatia

So, PC gamers, don't say nobody never did nuthin' for ya.

I dont think PC gamers complain about anything, other than the fact they would have had this on DAY ONE for FREE if there was no console version to be charged for.

Xbox 360 owners had to buy this.

There is a huge SHOCKER ... MSFT charging for shit that was free in patches and the norm for PC gaming.

EnigmaNemesis

@sovietspartan:

Well honestly I dont really care what the price is. I was just saying that I already have the game and I've already put a lot of time into that version.

CCCombobreaker

good for them, i think its time GPU manufacturers start giving us love. Otherwise we wont see A GPU market in the near future (well for gamers anyway)

Leepox

Was once a time where games were released and supported with new maps and SDKs in order to create a following of gamers who'd spread the word. Of course that was a time where franchises were renewed every 3-4 years not every 12months.

Now IW and other developers have zero reason to keep you playing more than 6-9months otherwise they'll risk you passing up on CoD 5. They instead tickle your balls and feed you some candy at a price to maximize that unit revenue while they can.

I don't wholly blame them of course. Gamers buy into it in a huge way, happily dropping money on DLC and hopping from one mass marketed title to the other. I think the sports titles yearly refreshing sparked the thought off for the publishers. I just feel it is a commercialization of gaming which is to the detriment of the industry and specifically online gaming which never has much of a chance to establish itself before the next big thing wipes out the community.

Maybe I'm just getting old and cranky. Anyway, props to NVidia for stumping up the cash to get these released on PC, it is much appreciated.

Jelster

It's the only way IW could have reliably made money from releasing it to the PC community, as it would be too easy to distribute them.

There is no need to thank nVIDIA. They did it for the sponsorship, as the new maps will no doubt include adverts in the loading screens and possibly the maps too. If nVIDIA had not chosen to sponsor, then the maps would have been released for free and most likely made free on consoles aswell.

Varone

@Varone: What? Where do you get that logic from? Nvidia sponsored the Map pack for PC so it would be released, they aren't behind the reason that 360 or PS3 had to pay.

And I think Nvidia did this more to try help the PC market than to grab some quick cash from advertisments. Does anyone remember the article about Nvidia saying that they want to help the PC gaming market and will do what they can? There's no point saying something like "Yeah, they just said that, they don't really give a shit", If PC gaming really does die Nvidia stand to lose a hell of a lot of money. After all, they are main provider of GFX cards to PC gamers.

MasterDex

@Varone:

I'm not thanking them devoid of the knowledge they have their own interests at heart. I'm thanking them because they did something that IW/ATVI were unwilling to do, which is to provide the maps at zero cost to the PC gamers.

Consoles have legitimized and provided the platform for DLC/Micro Transactions. Without the support of companies like Nvidia I'm sure the PC market would just be left out in the cold to push more people onto consoles to get their gaming fix. It would serve against the publisher's goals to support the PC for free and then charge console gamers for the same content, a time delay and sponsor is probably enough to say, "hey, if you want to game on PC you can but you'll be waiting months longer to get the new content and only if someone pays up your behalf".

Honestly if you want to complain, go point the finger at people happy to drop, no pleading to drop $10 on a map pack a month after release. Wanting an expansion pack for $30-40 six months after that and then wanting an all new version 12 months on for another $60. A majority of gamers haven't just swallowed the hook, line and sinker, they've eaten up the rod and the fisherman too.

Jelster

@TheHun:

The market is also a whole lot bigger so the reasoning that DLC is there to offset cost is largely bullshit although I'll accept it would likely offset a lot of risk for titles that suck and deserve to flounder in obscurity.

As I stated before, the content used to be free to retain customers, spread the word long after the retail buzz had died. It was a smart investment to keep people interested in your game 3-6-9 months after release. Look at how Half Life was still selling at near full retail price years after initial release because of the developer and community support it received.

The gamer's willingness to throw money at developers for both minor content and a yearly refresh has changed the situation not an increase in budgets and a need for a new revenue stream to offset it.

Yes times have changed but lets not look back on free content as some selfish expectation of old gamers and penny pichers. At least acknowledge that it represented a time when marketing money paid for FREE CONTENT rather that PR events, advertising and general hype-douchery.

What next? We'll be paying to play demos. Ooops we're already there too with "prologues" and "Live Gold Exclusives". I think the phrase "More money than sense" becomes ever more applicable for gamers with every passing day.

Jelster

@Harmatia: cheaper eh? If we're talking piracy then know that you can mod your $280 360 and have all the free games you want! And ALL the games run at the max settings too :p What $280 PC can run all pc games on max settings? better yet can an $800 pc run crysis on max? didn't think so. PC gaming is definitely not cheap, don't kid yourself.

TheHun

@wicko: why do you feel entitled to get free map packs? Just because that's the way it was done before? Times change. The cost of games hasn't risen (for the PC) for a long time now, even with inflation, yet games cost more to make, developers may look to dlc as a way to recoup losses. I don't see anything wrong with that.

Why haven't they charged for pc dlc yet?
- maybe because PC gamers don't like to give out their credit card number online (i know I don't)
-DRM is a bigger issue on PC's since the DLC can get deleted
-People feel entitled to free stuff on the PC because thats how they grew up.

If Valve's steam or Games for Windows takes off, and offer an easy way to pay for dlc, you can expect to start paying for PC dlc.

There is also nothing that suggest that putting out free dlc increases sales significantly, even for sequels. Look at how UT3 is doing compared to its predecessor.

Anyways my point is that times change, the gamers of yesterday have jobs now and are willing to pay for extra stuff. There is enough of them to make it worth while to charge for dlc vs "hope my free content will increase sales". This is a viable business model on consoles, and will be viable on PC's if theres a unified system.

In the meantime enjoy your free DLC!

TheHun

About goddamn time the did this. Doesn't matter much to me though, Im far too into TF2 to go back to CoD4 any time soon. It's total bullshit that it took this long for this to happen, console gaming is ruining PC gaming. At least Valve knows how to be decent and released their TF2 stuff on the PC first.

Rajolae

After dropping $450 on a 640MB 8800GTS I'd hope they might do a little something like this. However I'm still amused Nvidia needs to "sponsor" these maps when other companies *looks at Valve* seem to give that shit away simply 'cause they want to. Or as Valve recently suggested, it makes people like and respect them more. I cannot say I disagree.

Alright now I've gone too far into the meadow, must be the mead.

Replica23

@Jelster: If game developers could've they would've charged you back then too. There are few companies that do benefit from free dlc, Blizzard and Valve are the big ones.

Charging for dlc does have some pros though. The biggest one is that developers will make more (dlc and money)! Even ones that are not called Blizzard or Valve. It ensures more money to game makers that can arguable lead to better games in the future.

I am also not criticizing free dlc. I think it is wonderful! I am merely pointing out that times are changing and people are not entitled to anything.

TheHun

@TheHun:

You seem quick with your skepticism of how things were and display a naive optimism for how things will be.

Creating a loyal customer base through support and content can provide long term benefits over the short term 'DLC them up the kazoo' approach. I'll happily buy a id Software game knowing they will support it for years to come. I'll be buggered if I'll touch a Battlefield game published by EA who'll jam roll me with DLC and drop support the second they have a new game out.

Developers will only make more DLC as long as they deem the title current. When CoD5 comes out will they be creating DLC for CoD4? Where are the CoD3 DLC map packs? Again, it's drip feeding you to play the game, at your expense, until they release a new game. At least when it's free there is some give and take to the whole deal.

I'll also have to say that paying for content for any online multiplayer game ultimately splits the community that keeps that game alive. It's a very brutal ploy that says you're either in or out. Then again, they don't care. By the time CoD4 is fragmented people will be willing to buy CoD5 and repeat the cycle all over again.

Nobody says we are "entitled" to FREE stuff, although you can be fucking sure I'm not going to be as pleased as some people are when I'm asked to pay for it! It's not the inevitable I'm unable to face (I know DLC is here and will get bigger), it's just the all out fucking dumb acceptance and justification of it.

Jelster

WOW NVIDIA is very generous lately.

I think they should save money for the loses they will suffer from their next-gen ultra-expensive and hot chips; GTX 280 and 260.

550 mm2 die size? 260 Watts? WTF?

KroKan

Anyone know if Steam will automatically update itself with these maps? I'm guessing they will :)

fusiongt

My dad is going to be happy to hear this news. He's been asking me about this for months.

Ionsolis

I hate Owen Good's posts because I don't understand all internet slang and none of the other Kotaku people seem to use internet/texting slang in posts and I think they are better for it.

Rainspainplain

its not so much entitlement for pc gamers and free stuff, its more like tradition and a package deal. for being a pc gamer, you can get lots of free stuff from the commmunity and the company. Not just single maps either, but whole gameplay changing mods too.

i think the problem with current DLC is that theres simply not enough content in them to satisfy a pc gamer. to a pc gamer, a handful of maps doesn't look worth paying for. an expanion pack that adds lots of new maps and game mechanics is worth paying for. tho charging for those on the pc hasn't been looking very profitable lately. i'm thinking of the expansions of the BF franchise. not many play armored fury, euro forces, or northern strike, but special forces did okay.

also, on the pc, what a company releases has to compete with what the community releases on a pc game, if the community has the resources. and the competition gets to the point where the company just gives up and buys out/hires some of the community[see:Valve]. On the 360, IW doesn't have to compete w/ a customization community. IW can release and charge for whatever they want, no matter how small or crappy it is, and people will buy it b/c its the only way they are going to not lose interest in their game.

its really too bad that console gamers have to pay, and i feel sorry for them. i mean, portal on the 360 being stuck with only 19 puzzles? I feel sorry that they havn't experienced the brain splinter that is the map with the rotating room that was made by the bethesda employee. with the pc version of portal, i could probably go grab 100+ portal maps right now, or make my own. pretty much, the pc version of portal allows ENDLESS CAKE.

If no one modded for pc games, i would probably be a console gamer.

k.ong

Too bad I have ATi.

I could try playing it on my previous computer, but that thing couldn't run Big Rigs, let alone Cod4.

optikk