This time we probably don’t need to talk long about the topic of the week, as a game has secured the top spot all by itself. Of course, we are talking about Evolve, which even before its release revealed its plans for future DLCs and their pricing. For many aspiring players and pre-order customers, this is a slap in the face for several reasons…
“Full-price title” for 100€
There were several reasons to be upset about Evolve. On the one hand, the game already costs 50€, but those who want to “invest in the future” should immediately buy the package for a mere 90€, which includes additional monsters and hunters, as well as exclusive skins.
Unfortunately, those who had already decided to pre-order and did not do so directly on Steam cannot simply “upgrade” to the 90€ version, but will probably be forced to buy the other contents individually. One already expresses trust in a product from the outset and then is left empty-handed.
“We’re just making the game, we’re not selling it”
At TurtleRock, they felt unfairly treated when the DLC prices were announced. They emphasized that they are just developing the game, but 2K is responsible for the sale. This certainly allowed them to pull their own head out of the noose a bit, but it still seems somewhat hypocritical to me.
[pullquote]Ripping off remains ripping off[/pullquote]
Don’t developers notice when they build a game in such a modular way that content can be “pushed out” almost monthly? This reasoning alone justifies relatively little for me personally. Ultimately, as a consumer, I don’t care who is responsible for the additional, absolutely overpriced content. Whether it’s TurtleRock or 2K, ripping off remains ripping off.
“You will never be excluded because you don’t own a DLC”
I can only smile sarcastically at the second big statement. It is true that one can play with players who have purchased new characters, but that is not supposed to diminish the fun? Even during the beta last weekend, it became clear that certain hunter combinations are significantly more successful against a specific monster than others. I can already see the first matches in front of me, where you get kicked from the lobby because you haven’t bought “DLC-Hunter 17”.
I could absolutely understand the prices for new characters (15€ per monster, 7.50€ for a hunter) if the game were free to play and had to sustain itself that way. But selling a brand new game for 50€ and then introducing “microtransactions” that absolutely do not deserve the name due to their pricing is nothing short of a ruthless insult.
The timing
Probably, the whole act wouldn’t have been met with such terrible feedback if they had just held back with this announcement until after the release. Then they could have said: “Hey, we would like to keep the game alive, but we need the money. Therefore, the new content will cost something again.” Together with a reduction in DLC prices, I would have gladly swallowed that lie. This way… they have left many people in a mess.
If the alpha and beta weekends hadn’t given me so much fun, I would probably drop this game.
However, since the game is still one of my favorites for the year based on what is included in the “normal” version, I will probably continue to play it. Whether I will have paid another 100€ for any DLCs in a year, I dare to doubt.
