Rainbow Six Siege, Halo 5: Guardians, and, more recently, Titanfall 2, have adopted a DLC strategy where extra maps are free, ensuring that all players can play together, regardless of when the game is purchased. It appears Ubisoft will continue this with their future multiplayer games, as Anne Blondel-Jouin, Ubisoft’s VP of Live Operations, told Games Industry they don’t want to have DLC “that you have to buy if you want to have the full experience.”
Blondel-Jouin explained, “The key is if it’s not adding something on-top of the actual experience of the game, then it is no good. Because you’ll be asking for more money for the wrong reasons. Also, if the content is compulsory for the gamers, it’s no good as well. It is a way to deliver more fun to gamers, but they have a choice to go for that extra fun or not.” After giving an amusement park analogy of how the rides are the main attraction, and things like food and merchandise are an optional add-on to the experience, Blondel-Jouin said:
It wouldn’t work if it was about making it compulsory for gamers. No more DLC that you have to buy if you want to have the full experience. You have the game, and if you want to expand it – depending on how you want to experience the game – you’re free to buy it, or not.
Giving Rainbow Six Siege as an example, Blondel-Jouin said people are happy about the new Operators, “and they can customize them ...