How Prices Have Evolved

Everything changes over time, in some fashion or another. That is something everyone can agree to. Anyone can agree that video games have changed over time, even those that have never touched a controller in their life. People always talk about how the graphics, or game engine, or story, or gameplay have improved as technology progresses. There is one major change that the video game industry has seen that many overlook. It has nothing to do with how the game plays or looks. What many do not consider is all of the ways that financial cost has changed over the years in the gaming world.
I will admit, it was never really something I considered growing up. It was not until I saw this infographic that someone made that I actually started to think about it. The image can be found here.
So, to start, let’s look at how games used to be sold. Twenty years ago, if you wanted to buy a console game, that is all you would get. For the sake of this example, we will Mariokart 64, for the Nintendo 64. I don’t remember the exact cost, but I believe the standard price of a Nintendo 64 game cartridge was between $70-$80 dollars. Once you that price, that game, in its entirety, was yours. That game was all it was going to ever be on that console. No extra tracks, no bonus racers, just what was included. Back then, all of those extra maps or characters were already included in the game, but you had to unlock them by playing through the game. It was not uncommon to unlock extras by completing certain missions or finishing a track under a certain time. That is how most games operated from the late 90’s to early 2000s.
The next model came not too long after. Developers started to notice that the more popular games people would buy and play months to years after it came out. They observed that the better the game, the more loyal the fanbase. So, as intelligent businessmen, they introduced something called the expansion pack. On PC, this was usually an extra disc that would retail for a fraction of the cost of the original game. Once installed, the expansion pack would add more maps, characters, weapons, etc, that were not included in the original release. On console, this meant releasing the same game, about a year or two later than the original release, but with all the extra content on the disc or cartridge. A perfect example of this model was Fable, for the original Xbox. This game was released in 2004, and was a wildly popular rpg for console. I can personally say it was an excellent game with very high replay value, making it a good investment for gamers. A year later, the developers released Fable: The Lost Chapters. This version, like the first, had all the original content and unlockables, but with added areas, missions, weapons, and backstory that added several hours of play time to the game. This was a brilliant financial move as it opened the game up to plenty of new players, as well as appealing to the large fanbase already established from the initial release.
Developers noticed the financial gains that could be made through expansions, and found another way to make this already successful model more profitable. As technology became more online oriented, the downloadable content, or DLC, model was introduced. The formula was pretty simple. Basically, it take a few steps.

1.       Design and release game

2.       During development, create, (but don’t release) characters, maps, etc.

3.       After initial release of game, periodically, put up “extra content” (extras already made during initial development)

4.       Sell DLC at fraction of cost for full game

5.       Profit

Financially, this was one of the most brilliant moves game developers and publishers ever came up with. Like with the expansion pack model, it allowed them to introduce the game to more players after the initial release. By releasing more DLCs every few months, developers could keep their games relevant as the popularity decline. Example, Borderlands 2 comes out. $60 dollars at release, and makes a ton. Two months after release, you can buy an extra campaign pack that includes new areas, weapons, and NPCs for the low cost of $10. Not a terrible deal, all things considered. A great game with more stuff, for only a few bucks more? Don’t mind if I do. Now, let’s say they have 4 extra campaigns, at $10 dollars each, plus 2 extra playable characters, for $5. Again, it doesn’t seem like much, since they would space out the release of the campaigns and characters every few months. But, if you were to buy the game at launch, plus all 4 extra campaign DLC packs, and the 2 extra characters, you have just payed $110 dollars for this one game. That’s right, developers would make almost twice the sale price of the game just in downloadable content. That figure does not even include extra skin packs, to make your player look even more rad. As you can see, it’s an insanely profitable model. To try and make this model more appealing, the developers added the “season pass”. This let you pay one bulk sum up front, but gave you several of the DLC packs, at a discounted rate. In the case of Borderlands 2, that meant paying $30 dollars for the 4 campaign packs. If you had planned on getting the DLCs anyways, that saved you $10 on something you had already planned on purchasing. To sweeten the deal, many developers added “season pass exclusives”, such as weapons, armors, and skins only available to those that purchased the season pass.

            As time has gone on, video game companies have found many ways to make even more money off of every purchase. The most brilliant thing about it, is that so many people never noticed. Those that have, often lament the way it has progressed. Gone are the days of unlocking that super sweet character with the awesome finisher move by completing some insanely difficult and asinine challenge. Now, that overpowered tank of a player can be yours for the low low price of $4.99. Can’t say I fault the developers, and I too buy DLCs. Still, gotta agree with some of those older games. I do miss the accomplishment of unlocking those really difficult characters.