Capcom revising on-disc DLC stance
By
Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor
Publisher "re-evaluating" how add-on content is provided to customers in wake of uproar over Street Fighter X Tekken, but new policy won't take effect until after Dragon's Dogma.
Capcom has heard the customer complaints over the "downloadable" content for Street Fighter X Tekken being locked away on the retail disc, and the publisher is changing in response. Senior VP Christian Svensson posted a statement about the change in direction on Capcom's official forums yesterday.
"We would like to assure you that we have been listening to your comments and as such have begun the process of re-evaluating how such additional game content is delivered in the future," Svensson said. "As this process has only just commenced in the past month or so, there will be some titles, where development began some time ago and that are scheduled for release in the coming months, for which we are unable to make changes to the way some of their post-release content is delivered."
For example, Svensson said next week's release of Dragon's Dogma will arrive with some DLC already on the disc. While he didn't specify which content was on-disc, Svensson said the game would receive an array of new weapons, quests, and customization options after launch.
On the eve of Street Fighter X Tekken's March debut, Capcom admitted that the 12 "downloadable" characters announced as PlayStation Vita exclusives were actually on the discs of the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game. These fighters will be sold for $20 (1,600 MS points) sometime after the PS Vita version launches this fall.
By
Brendan Sinclair, Senior Editor
Brendan Sinclair has been a games journalist since 1999. His tastes are eclectic, though he has a definite affinity for games with arcade roots. He's Canadian, but has also been at home in Atlanta, Austin, Chicago, and San Francisco.
422 comments
i love in disck dlc its the best cuz u dont have to wate for the downlaod and anyone that has a prolbem with it is stuped and greedy cuz it costs the game makers milloins of dollers to make the dlc and there doing u a huge faver by selling it for only 20 dollers
LOL i dont think it does matter since the sales is so bad Ono was forced on a early retirement hahaha
1 Like So they will just hold it back and release it as marketplace DLC. Most of it will have already been worked on or finished by the time the game comes out anyway. I guess it will make the people that check the disc content after they get it happy?
1 Like Still not acceptable. I plan on getting Dragon's Dogma. If I find a way to get that content off of my disc for free, then I will and I will use that content. I already payed 60 for that disc and I am entitled to what is on that disc.
I want games like God Of War,Assassins Creed,Battlefield,Batman to release on Vita!!! I dearly want to play these games.
@niladri999 there are 2 God of War PSP games that work great on the Vita: Chains of Olympus & Ghost of Sparta. I just finished Ghost of Sparta, played great on my Vita. as for the rest just wait, its going to happen
1 Like I'm actually amazed that after the ME3 fiasco that companies are still trying to slip by with these kinds of shady business dealings. Oh wait, no I'm not. >.>
1 Like You are pathetic saying that Capcom, it sounds like you are just saying this because you are releasing another game with DLC content on it and this is suppose be a 'pre-warning' of the same thing happening with StreetfightXtekken.
You've really lost a heck lot of credibility and trust over the last few years. Everytime I browse the PSN store I see your street fighter costume DLC and it makes me disgusted why you are charging unreasonably high for that, not that I want it to begin with but it just goes to show how pathetic you are
3 Like So tired of this Day-1 DLC, retailer-exclusive content and premium service crap that has emerged over the last few years. Don't want to buy a game when I know that they're withholding content from me just to make a buck (and I WON'T buy them).
3 Like derpa derp, da derpa derp. In other words, FINE we will just keep it out of the game even though its all done, and then just make you download it instead of having it possibly hacked by hackers to give you what you already paid for....DERP.
7 Like It's a stupid idea because the content should have already been part of the game, They are simply using it as "DLC" in order to make a quick buck. They are ripping off their fans, Plain and simple.
7 Like On disc DLC is the same as day 1 DLC, one is locked on the disc, the other is locked on the internet, so whether they cancel on disc DLC and just keep having day 1 DLC isn't an improvement at all IMO.
1 Like After all the bread chewing people are going to continue buying their games. No DLC early. They are going to re evaluate how to sell us pieces of content without making costumers angry. That is? all. The DLC will still be exclusive for the Vita release. It doesn't matter if people want the 12 characters. We are not going to get them early. Support Capcom at your own discretion.
Let me bring out the cake for the Celebration of Street Fighter X Tekken12 Character on disc package. Thanks to our help they will get better at selling us pieces of content. Excellent news. Where is the 12 characters DLC? Are we suppose to keep waiting?
4 Like It'd be easy to determine they're actually making a good-faith gesture to players if they give free unlock codes for Dragon's Dogma's disc-locked content. I wouldn't count on it, though.
The millions of dollars on their? pocket is not letting them listing to their fans. Cut their money supply down to 0%. Make them pay! We are the bosses of the gaming industry.
1 Like Revising the DLC stance but it's never gonna go away. Look at their track record in the past. I don't see it happening.
Btw, what happened to Megaman/Rockman, Breath of Fire, and Onimusha? Scrapped project now? And even if they did come back, most of us don't trust you enough that we expect to get incomplete stuff.
2 Like A step in the right direction to win back consumers. It'll still take them awhile before they are off a lot of people's "most hated game company" list.
1 Like funny how for me anther super version of the game will do the trick ah anyway ill avoid Disc locked content as much as possible with the vita version :)
They better be serious about this. That was what pissed me off about Street Fighter X Tekken.
6 Like Capcom revising on-disc DLC stance.
^^ I hope newer Gen gamers understand the main reason Capcom is doing this is because they Got Busted doing something greedy while screwing over honest paying customers, had the Hackers not put Capcom on Blast, they wouldn't give a Damn about revising. that's a Fact!!!!
F**k Capcom 2 Little 2 Late.
Wii U=Day 1 buy. Other next Gen keep on Screwing of its paying consumers, I won't be purchasing their product.
11 Like Its funny how they still don't get it. I wasn't pissed because the DLC was on the disc- I was pissed because the DLC was done and packaged BEFORE the games release! That means that they charged us full price for part of a game they completed already. Its a blatant ripoff. As gamers we all laugh at Nintendo for producing what we call "cheap toys", but in all honesty they are the only true gaming company thats not trying to rip us off. When Microsoft and Sony joined the party we fell over ourselves to hand them fist fulls of money because they promised us BETTER games- all those corperations did was deliver shorter and shorter versions of the same franchises in a pretty package for MORE money. Now they want to take away used games or loaning them to our friends- WTF. I plan on buying a wii u when it comes out just because I know Ill atleast get a full version of Mario. Zelda and Metroid- and Ill prolly get it for UNDER $300. All of the "gamers" will criticise it for inferior graphics- WHO CARES? I own all the current gen systems and all the previous ones just like everyone else- but I gotta tell ya- if its true about the blocked used games- Im gonna pass on the PS4 and Xbox 720. Enough is enough, you want gamers to buy ur games- price em at $40 like they used to be- the price we're all willing to pay used. Guess what? THAT will kill the used game market. idiot. Instead, theyre games will probably be $70 and download only- then theyll wonder why the gaming industry died?!?
@aerox76 How about they cut the content out of the original, and pretend that they create the DLC content after release? I think many developers are doing so. While I see some "season pass" - some kind of marketing term, I suspect that I am getting "cut content" back with costs.
@aerox76 Damn man... Yes. You nailed it. I never thought about some of the things you said in that way, till I read that.
@aerox76 Umm games back in the SNES/N64 era (cartridges) were upwards $60-$80regularily, so $40 isn't what game prices "used to be" but today, IMO only the best should be priced that high.
2 Like @aerox76 excellent point.. i think the reason gamers have all but abandoned nintendo is cause they're going after a much younger audience these days, there PG rated games are just too childish for most to take seriously, also they focus way too much on that move type control scheme, not everyone wants to bounce around there living room just to play a game.. they were moving past this back in the snes days but it seems nintendo just can't get up to par with the older gamers.
@ShangTsung17 So because something's more "PG rated", it can't be taken seriously? C'mon, even kid oriented movies and TV shows can be taken seriously by adults depending on the themes, not what freaking rating is on the packaging. That's for how something is appropriate for kids.
Besides, you REALLY expect Nintendo to publish an "M rated" game again after TWO of their M rated bombs on GameCube called Eternal Darkness and Geist?
1 Like @nintendoboy16 i'm not saying there's anything wrong with games like that, i happen to own and enjoy a few myself but not all gamers are like me.. some people just won't play a game unless its atleast targeted at adults.. basically untill nintendo returns to the way it was back in the snes days most gamers just aren't gonna give them the time a day..
2 Like Where is a good lawyer when you need one. Can someone already sue these thieves. This kind of business practice cannot be legal.
2 Like I still refuse to buy anymore of your games Cashcom. You left a bad taste in my mouth.
3 Like Woowww. What made them think having On-disc content would be ok for us consumers? What is the point for paying sixty dollars for the disc if we do not get all the content. Drop the price down at least. But...that won't happen. I shall call you thieves.
11 Like Game companies are more and more hypocrite and greedy.
I remember the SNES days... there was no DLC, online pass, cd keys or DRM...
You were opening the box, putting the cart into your SNES and that was it!
2 Like Rolling eyes at folks saying they own everything on the game discs they buy. Yes, you own the copyrights to the IP? You own the rights to the middleware? You own the rights to the music? On disc DLC is irritating because it strips away the illusion that DLC is not completed, bug-tested and ready for release when a game ships.
Companies are going to continue premeditating and completing their DLC offerings well before launch day. Whether its on the Disc or not is just semantics, but whatever makes you feel better...
2 Like @lindallison I don't own the rights to the IP, the middleware, or the music. But I did, potentially, pay for development of all that stuff and want all of what I paid for. This is not a hard thing to understand.
Quit with the greed and start making quality. I hate the modern capitalistic money grubbing attitude of the corporations. You get what you pay for and when we buy a disk its our property along with everything on it.
1 Like @Takeno456 No, it's really not. You pay for a license to use software. The disc means nothing at all.
This comment has been deleted
@danusty @SpearM64 Hahaha. I'm most definitely NOT a "1%er", and I don't even own a console (wait... I think I have an Atari 2600 and a PS1 around here somewhere.) My entire income last year was just barely above poverty level.
"by the way, SFxT requires no installation whatsoever to play it so where does the de facto acceptance fall on that? instruct me on that"
OK. Since you asked: You bought the game, you put it in your console, you played the game, therefore you agreed to the EULA. Doesn't matter if you had to install anything or not. That is where the courts fall on the de facto acceptance.
They don't need to be part of the 1% to be correct. Next time you buy a game, when the screen with the End User License Agreement (EULA) comes up, take the time to actually READ it.
I can almost guarantee that it will say something like this: "COMPANY grants you the right to install and use one copy of GAME on your computer running a validly licensed copy of the operating system for which GAME was designed." (To be fair, most companies allow you to install the program on more than one computer, with the provision that you can only USE one copy at a time, unless you paid for a site license.)
So let me make it clear: You do NOT own the contents of the disc. The company that made the game (or business software or whatever) does. They are merely granting you permission to USE it.
Most EULAs will also contain something like this: "You may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble the GAME, except and only to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstanding this limitation."
Translation: By hacking the game so you can use the 14 fighters that are locked on the disc, instead of buying the "DLC", you are in breach of contract. While you don't have to read the EULA, ignorance is no defense; installing and playing the game is considered by the court to be a de facto acceptance of the terms of the EULA.
Having said that, do I approve of this? No. I find Capcom to be greedy and corrupt, just like the rest of you, but I've seen EULAs like this since at least 1982, with Lotus 1-2-3, so this is not something new. (Lotus 1-2-3 at the time cost around $400... and yes, your 400 bucks was only buying permission to USE it.)
7 Like You can't sell me a watch and then charge me $15 to remove the battery myself.
I own my game disc, including all the content on it. And if I unlock said content myself rather than pay to "download" nothing, I haven't done anything illegal under fair use.
So Capcom, I'm fine with you working on DLC before launch, but if you intend to charge for DLC, don't include it on the disk. You can't charge me for what I've already purchased and already own.
Like I told Danusty above, read the EULA. Despite what you may think, you do NOT own the content on the disc; the company that made the game does. Your money is simply paying for permission to USE it.
Also, when you are reading the EULA, you may see something like this: "You may not reverse engineer, decompile, or disassemble {product name}, except and only to the extent that such activity is expressly permitted by applicable law notwithstanding this limitation."
This means that if you unlock said content yourself, you ARE, in fact, in breach of contract, and ignorance is no excuse; if you didn't read the EULA but play the game anyway, the courts will say that by playing the game, you have agreed to the EULA, whether you read it or not.
I find Capcom's behavior to be just as reprehensible as you do, but it is what it is, and I've seen this kind of language in EULAs since 1982, when $400 would buy you permission to use one copy of Lotus 1-2-3, so this is nothing new. It is what it is.
@TeeniestChaos You obviously don't own an Apple product. To change the battery on an iPod or iPad, you have to take it in or send it in to Apple and pay a fee. Attempting to do so yourself voids the warranty.
@CalamityKate That's true - I'd be paying for a service charge to Apple for changing the battery and get to keep a warranty to boot. And I could pay a service charge to Capcom for them to unlock on-disk content for me. Or I could unlock it myself for free, and as I don't have a warranty with most games I wouldn't be voiding it.
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