GTA:IV, Fallout 3- now Tomb Raiders: Underworld

The 360 gets Exclusive DLC for ’09 release

of games next DLC chapter

by XboxOZ360:

©2008 Grant Smythe:

First there was GTA:IV’s Exclusive DLC, then we discovered Fallout 3 will have Exclusive DLC for the Xbox 360, and now we have Tomb Raiders: Underworld joining the ranks of those games offering Xbox 360 owners exclusive content through XboxLIVE.

The first being “Beneath The Ashes” in December, and the second will be in early ’09 which will expand the series with a new playable character – “Lara’s Shadow” !

Many news sources are saying that MS are doing poorly of late with the xbox 360. Citing that they are “having to sell off their internal studios” in order to cut costs, when in fact, that’s not the case. If one checks their specialised 2002/3 XE 30 white paper, and J Allard’s “3″ white paper of the same period, it showed that MS’s Xbox-Div estimated that it could afford to lose $US 6.2 billion within the first 7 years of the consoles life. At a worst case scenario.

The two majors, Sony and MS, have both stated publicly that the era of “Exclusive titles is a thing of the past” – especially with regards to 3rd party games and now some 1st party titles that have moved back into the Indie Developer field. Many believe this is due mainly to a change in the distribution and financial turn around on games in the current market, not because the two can no longer afford to have 1st Party or 3rd party titles. We also have major publisher/developers like Capcom dropping exclusive content for any platform now, making it more apparent that the day of the “exclusive” disc based game has run it course.

Many games can and do cost upwards of $US20 – $US50 million to both develop and publish, let alone marketing costs. With 1st party titles getting roughly $US10 – $US12 mil spent on them for marketing/advertising cost alone – Halo 3 had in excess of $US10 + million spent on ads just for its release. Forza 2 had a similar amount spent on it and Gears Of War 2 will have perhaps even more spent on its release worldwide come November 7th. (Yeah NZ and Aust get it FIRST – yeah!!!)

MS’s focus is firmly set at delivering DLC and games that will be distributed eventually via DLC streams through XboxLIVE. On of the first games that will follow this trend fully is Watchmen (check out info under “W” in games listing).

The 2 full games will be only available through purchase on XboxLIVE via DLC that are tied into the release of their Movie through cinema in March ’09, and the second game will tie in with the release of their DVD movie version a few months later once the movie has run its course through cinemas worldwide.

So it makes sense to now turn their attentions to Exclusive DLC from various game developers/publishers to secure some level of excluivity for its user base. By doing so, it adds life to established games, has them continue in rising xboxlive Multiplayer stats and keep people playing the game long after many normal shelf games would have expired.

Tomb Raiders: Underworld developers Crystal Dynamics have signed a deal with MS Xbox-Div that is enabling MS to deliver an exclusive chapter called Tomb Raiders: Lara’s Shadow for the upcoming iteration of the Tomb Raider franchise. Tomb Raider: Underworld is set for a November ’08 release, with Laura’s Shadow set for a early ’09 release via XboxLIVE.

“Tomb Raider: Underworld – Lara’s Shadow will launch in “early 2009,” and will sport “a new kind of playable character.”

The announcement of Tomb Raider DLC follows the announcements of high-profile Xbox 360 exclusive content for Grand Theft Auto IV and Fallout 3, leaving PS3 owners without the option to buy additional content to stretch the life of the games.”

Source: EDGE Online

Personally I do not see DLC or DL Full Games taking the place of Full Retail gdisc based games, but they will give a few generations easier access to games which they are more used to, than previous generations of gamers. Many of whom still hold the lions share of expendable income at this time. So Disc Based games will not die off, (nor will PC gaming), but there will be a significant shift in the 3 majors in how they will begin to distribute their content over the next 12-24 months.

©2008 Grant Smythe: