Capcom received some backlash last week when they announced that they would be selling downloadable content for Resident Evil 5 which would add multiplayer modes to the game.
Most of the Internet angst seems to surround the timing of the release and questions why it wasn't just included on the disc. But Christian Svensson, vice president of Strategic Planning & Business Development for Capcom, isn't having any of it.
"This is the part where I get to say "BS"," he wrote on the Capcom forums. "RE5 is well worth every penny of $60. A huge game, with tons of replay value, loads of unlockables, new weapons, co-op, mercenaries mode, etc. If any game warrants its price point, it's RE5.
"Prior to the announcement of the Versus mode, no one complained they weren't getting their money's worth with the initial release because it packs TONS of value because it is an amazing game. So if people were already satisfied with what the package had, when we offer MORE, why is it people feel they've been somehow cheated? If you don't find value in our secondary offerings, the choice is simple, don't purchase it. If you do find it valueable (and we hope you do) please do buy it and enjoy it."
Svensson goes on to explain that any downloadable content that Capcom does has a budget separate from the main game.
"Secondly, whenever we do PDLC, that content exists with its own budgets, it's own profit and loss analaysis with its own forecasts. If it didn't, that extra content wouldn't have been put into production, because it did not fit within the production budget of the base product.
"The content that is shipping in the full game exists within its own budget. The content shipping afterward (regardless of how close to release it is... because the goal IS to have it release relatively closely to the base product's release) exists within its own budget. To try and have it release in a timeframe that is relatively close to the initial release, development starts well before the base product is on the shelves. There's no other way to keep it within 3 to 6 weeks of the initial release (which is the goal)."
It is an interesting phenomenon that people seem to get incensed about the timing of DLC alone. Would news of Resident Evil 5's DLC been less upsetting if it came six months after the game was out?
How come ye released an incomplete game Capcom?!? [Capcom Forums, thanks Jon]