Development studio CD Projekt Red, who are trying their very hardest to be the anti-Ubisoft, announced today that their upcoming role-playing game The Witcher 3 will have a whopping 16 pieces of downloadable content. All for free.
In a cheeky blog post this morning, the folks behind The Witcher proclaimed that the downloadable content — which even includes horse armour — will be available free on every platform (PC/PS4/Xbox One), no matter what, whether you pre-order the game or buy it later. They will release DLC bundles every week after the game launches on February 24, 2015. Packs will include quests, alternative costumes, and beard sets.
So is this a legitimately good offer or just a devious scheme to make The Witcher 3 seem more generous? It’s impossible to answer until we see everything they’re offering, but either way, it makes for a stark contrast to, say, Ubisoft’s Far Cry 4, which is full of DLC, pre-order exclusive bonuses, and yak farms.
Given that The Witcher has been so successful — and given the severe backlash to exclusive DLC schemes that totally screw over gamers, like Destiny‘s PlayStation-exclusive strikes — it seems like maybe, just maybe, publishers treating their players like more than person-sized wallets might be a decent strategy.
Comments
15 responses to “The Witcher 3 Will Have 16 Pieces Of DLC (All Free)”
I know I’d pay top dollar for a good beard set.
Is this all just marketing now?
Drip feed content to make it look like people are getting more value for their money?
New content ever week…. either call it a content patch or just include it in the main game.
All this means is people will need to download patches every week to get new horse armour.
It honestly baffles me. I don’t see the point. I’m glad we are getting it for free… but why do we need to “get” it at all?
It’s like saying “Buy our car and get a free spare tire. Aren’t we awesome? We’re giving you stuff that’s normally included anyway for free!!!”
Well, no, this kind of stuff isn’t normally included for free anymore. That’s the point. Very few games give free content patches these days, especially on consoles.
Most companies are charging for the spare tire these days, so yes it does make them awesome.
I think this is more like a joke from CD Projekt Red than anything.
Except your statement right there, “I’m glad we are getting it for free” is the reaction they want. It really does feel like cheeky gesture, but it sets them apart from the rest of the pack by giving it out for free. This isn’t an age how games have everything that they need in the game from day 1 anymore.
Sure they could say they included it already, but gamer’s are a greedy bunch that want the extra features, you may be the minority but you don’t understand the business, that’s why this is really smart on their part to generate honest interest.
More companies need to start doing this! I’m over all the pre-order dlc crap. Give us a game then add free stuff later on, keep the customers happy! No one likes buying a game a week later and missing out on stuff, and some people just can’t buy games straight away.
Despite never really liking the Witcher games I almost want to buy 3 just to support them for treating their customers right.
I’ve done that sort of thing before. I bought Killer Instinct on x1 because I supported the model for that game despite hating 2d fighting games.
cdprojekt have always been vocally against DRM and paid/exclusive DLC. This is just them being a company that actually cares about their customers.
I wouldn’t read this as purely a shock marketing tactic, as they had all free DLC with the previous titles. It’s a great company, who makes great games for great people (us). Support them, I know I will be.
CD Projekt Red know how to treat their fans correctly. No DRM, no DLC.
Remember Oblivion and the Horse Armour DLC that everyone kicked up the shits about? That was the first time I noticed DLC as being slightly crappy and it’s been downhill since then
Nice to see SOMEBODY putting an effort in to at least appear to be the good guy here.
Hopefully the Witcher makes a ton on money and we see more companies trying to benefit by avoiding the straight-up asshole approach to making money.
Obnoxious DLC will never go away, but as long as people are angry about it companies should be able to benefit by making a point of avoiding it.
This makes sense and is an idea I have been speaking about for ages.
Some people buy the game at launch, play the crap out of it and then trade it while it has value.
The publishers don’t like this as it is seen as a lost sale (someone buys the second hand copy rather than a new one).
How can you stop or slow down this cycle?
Free DLC!
Is the content is good enough people may hold onto their game longer.
Even a few weeks would be enough to slow down the second hand market while the interest is high (the game is newish).
I am waiting for the new super marketing line “that’s right, if you buy this game we will give you THE WHOLE GAME. Buy one get one, what a deal!”
The DLC armour for our 16 mounts is FREE!!
But nah, CD Projekt Red is doing a great thing holding the line and hopefully with enough support they can be seen as the working example to help turn this tide around.
Big respect. Wasn’t going to get this game until it had come down in price but it might by a D1P now.
I can’t imagine any reason why they would need to break the packs up in that order and offer them once a week, as if the content is all ready and certified (which it would most likely need to be well before launch) then you’d expect them to release it all together if it was going to be free.
This makes me think that the only reason CD Projekt is doing this is to send a message on what they think of the practises of other game devs & publishers. And I respect the hell out of that.
Free beard sets!?!? Sold.
I love CD Projekts business model, the massive later extra releases for free for witcher 1/2 were epic. No DRM.
I want to support them. This appears tongue in cheek- and I like it. I will not wait for the game to go on sale with all the paid DLC in a years time like most AAA titles- I will buy it early trusting everything will come free.