Dragon Age: Inquisition won't have DLC characters because of on-disc controversy

As was rumored, BioWare's upcoming fantasy RPG Dragon Age: Inquisition will not offer new DLC characters, creative director Mike Laidlaw told Official Xbox Magazine. This is because doing so would require them to be on-disc, and BioWare won't do this in the wake of the on-disc controversy that dates back to 2012 and Mass Effect 3.

"Because of how deeply enmeshed in the system companion characters are, we can't just add them on the fly; part of them has to be shipped on the disc," Laidlaw said. "Which has led to criticism that we're forcing people to pay for content they already own. It's not the case, but we've decided this time to not go that route. There will be no DLC party members."

According to former Epic Games design director Cliff Bleszinski, on-disc DLC is an "ugly truth" for video game development. For various reasons, including compatibility issues, some content does need to be on-disc from day-one, Bleszinski said in 2012. BioWare itself caught flak in 2012 when users discovered that parts of an upcoming Mass Effect 3 expansion were already on-disc from launch day.

Dragon Age: Inquisition will feature nine total party members. Six are known right now: Cassandra Pentaghast, Varric, Vivienne, Sera, Iron Bull, and Solas. It has been rumored that Alistair and the original game's Morrigan could also be featured as playable characters.

Due out this fall, Dragon Age: Inquisition is coming to Xbox 360, Xbox One, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, and PC. For more, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.