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A lot of you said you'd never do it. I remember you decrying the evils of downloadable content quite vividly. "I'm not gonna get nickel-and-dimed" you said. "Put it on the disc or no sale," you challenged.
How wrong you were. First, you were way, way off on the nickel and dime stuff. These items can get pretty damn pricey. But the thing that you were most wrong about is that you could hold out as your friends flaunted their extra playable characters, capacious new maps, and game-breaking BFGs. Game publishers got us all, and they got us good.
According to a report by Electronic Entertainment Design and Research titled "Deconstructing Downloadable Content: 2011 EEDAR Report - Market Overview & Barriers to Growth," "DLC" might also be spelled "$$$." For the first time, more than half of HD console owners purchased DLC over the previous twelve-month period: 51% in 2011, compared to 40% in 2010 and a mere 34% in 2009. This translates to about $875,000,000 in North American sales in 2011 and a projected 2012 North American DLC revenue of a cool $1,000,000,000.
Of course, you might see that as a lot of extra money, but from the other side it just looks like a lot of money left on the table. EEDAR thinks another $600,000,000 could have been gained if the other 49% were engaged enough to buy DLC.
So what's keeping the sales from reaching their full potential, given the greater accessibilty of broadband Internet and the tighter marketing methods of video game publishers? More often than not, it's privacy concerns. This was the top barrier even before the breach of the PlayStation Network this past spring. As it stands now, the top three reasons (of fifteen listed) that HD console owners do not purchase downloadable content are:
Privacy concerns - 47%
The no-return policy - 38%
The high cost - 32%
It will be interesting to see how game companies try to address those issues. Other reasons, like inadequate descriptions and a complicated storefronts, are much easier to take on but aren't cited by as big a percentage of gamers.
If I had to guess, I'd say the fourth reason will be the first to be resolved: "Enough free DLC." I am the 51%.
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