Homemade DLC

The future of video games lies in digital distribution, or distribution through the internet instead of disks or cartridges. Some people may not like it, and some people may disagree, but I think that for most gamers and most people in the game industry digital distribution is the future of videogames. Companies have already started doing this in the form of DLC or downloadable content. This content allows game developers to add on to games that they have made, and allows gamers to get more out of their games for a small price. Thought this cuts costs for game publishers, the cost for game development would be the same. One way companies could better regain some of their development costs would be by allowing user created content to be sold through their game. For example; the game Fallout 3 is vast, in fact it is so vast that if you just play through the main story line then chances are that you will not see 40% - 60% of the game’s content. If the game’s developer, Bethesda, allowed users to use the game modification tools that they have already released, to make content that can be sold. This way a lot of professional quality additions could be made to their game at no cost to the developer. The best way for this to work would be by using Apple’s app store model, and change people a small fee to use the tools then make them submit their content to then be reviewed by the developer. The content would then be sold and some kind of profit split would happen.

This plan could help developers in more than one way. Not only would it give them practically free DLC, but it just might encourage more people to buy their games. This system could also be used to help small independent game companies to work on a small project that could give them practice and make a little money to fund other projects. The system would also help create future game designers as it would be a lot easier to create new content for another game then it is to create a new game. Overall it would not end up costing much to the developer, especially if they already release the tools and make their own DLC.