Ever since gaming went predominantly online, with discs being little more than DRM devices, developers have spent as much time focusing on what expansions and downloadable content they can sell to consumers as they have the original game. In some cases, developers have planned out entire roadmaps before the game has finished production, which regularly begs the question; ‘why can’t they include it from the start’?
Video Game Expansions and DLC are Big Business
There’s no secret these days, but expansions are arguably bigger business than that of the original game. Video game sales are the start, but expansions and microtransactions are the end goal. As the video game industry pivots further into live service, we see far less emphasis put on the quality of the content we’re being force-fed, and more on the quantity.
Take the likes of EA’s footballing sim for example, with Ultimate Team being a microtransaction haven – and regularly criticized for exploiting gambling addicts – or the more recent furore surrounding Rocksteady’s live-service Arkhamverse game Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Even when directly talking about expansions and DLC we seemingly have little quality, with most developers focusing on rehashed and rushed multiplayer maps or character packs.
That said, there have been a few times where a developer has bucked the trend, arguably the biggest example being The Witcher 3’s Blood and Wine expansion, which was lauded across the board as a game in its own right. At some sixty hours long, it was full of top-quality missions, locations, and more that rivaled and outdid other full games, and as well as length and quantity, it was genuinely good, and offered a lot to the player, but also the lore of the world. That’s only one example, but others include any of the Borderlands games, the recent addition to Cyberpunk, Phantom Liberty, and a few more besides.
Why it Looks like FromSoft is Bucking the Trend with Elden Ring’s Shadow of the Erdtree
It must be said that since its original announcement back in February 2023 – that’s right, an entire year ago – not much has been said about Elden Ring’s upcoming expansion. Now that could be a sign that something is wrong, but with the quality games that FromSoft put out, it’s more likely a sign that good things are coming.
As already mentioned, many developers will rush out half-assed, half-finished expansions and DLC to get a few more bucks from the consumer, but the time FromSoft is taking shows they are taking a completely different tactic. As it is with Elden Ring, the Lands Between is ripe for new locations, new bosses, and new stories, just with the way it is set up, so adding to it should be relatively simple, but how they do that is another matter. Will the story be a continuation of where we left our ‘hero’ at the end of the game? Someone different? Somewhere completely new? We don’t know, yet.
With the development time taken it is clear that there is a lot of care being taken to craft the ultimate experience for players, with the next adventure in Elden Ring potentially being the last. There have been entire games created in a far shorter time than the year – minimum – they have been developing the expansion, and they’ve shown previously they’re more than capable of raising the bar with their DLCs. Just look at the excellent The Old Hunters for Bloodborne, or Dark Souls’ Artorias of the Abyss, arguably where the developer found their feet with their quicker-paced, more aggressive fighting styles seen throughout the future installments.
Whilst we wait for more news, it is exciting to see all the theories and conspiracies being thrown around by fans, as well as players flocking back in anticipation.
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