Downloadable Content - Pricing

Pricing

Microsoft and Nintendo use points systems to purchase downloadable content and have been criticized for selling only specific amounts of their currency. For example, if someone wants to purchase a $15 item, they are forced to spend $20 just to buy enough currency to buy the $15 item. 80 Xbox Live Marketplace Points are equivalent to one dollar, and 100 Wii point is equal to one dollar. Both companies have been criticized for taking advantage of currency parity, and keeping consumers from realizing the actual cost of items. Like Disney Dollars, the idea is that gamers will be more ready to spend a certain amount of "points" than a specific dollar amount. Downloadable content on the PlayStation Store is sold at prices reflecting real world currency.

Since Microsoft popularized the business model of microtransactions, some have criticized downloadable content as being overpriced, and an incentive for developers to leave items out of the initial release.

Certain items are provided for free. Providing free DLC can also provide revenue for game companies at the expense of users' convenience. For example, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm for the PlayStation 3 was shipped with certain features disabled. However, users can freely download packs to re enable the missing content from the PlayStation Store. Consequently, users are exposed to advertisements and potential purchases. There is also the additional marketing benefit that users may believe that there is continuing support for the product if there is an apparent flow of such patches.

Users cannot resell content they have downloaded. Where a normal software disc can have its license sold or traded, DLC is locked to a specific user or console and does not come with the ability to transfer that license to another user.

Microsoft has been known to require developers to charge for their content, when the developers would rather release their content for free. Some content has even been withheld from release because the developer refused to charge the amount Microsoft required. Epic Games, known for continual support of their older titles with downloadable updates, believed that releasing downloadable content over the course of a game's lifetime helped increase sales throughout, and had succeeded well with that business-model in the past, but was required to implement fees for downloads when releasing content for their Microsoft-published game, Gears of War.