Capcom has responded to a Better Business Bureau complaint about the DLC characters for Street Fighter x Tekken, stating that there is “effectively no distinction” between locked on-disc DLC content and DLC content that requires a full download, it's been reported. The complaints came after buyers of last month's Street Fighter x Tekken discovered that data for all twelve of the game's DLC fighters, unlockable for an extra fee, was contained in full on the original retail disc.
Buyers of Street Fighter x Tekken who complained to the Better Business Bureau alleged that Capcom's DLC scheme forced consumers to pay twice, once for the disc and then a second time to access content already on the disc. In the past, Capcom has argued that on-disc DLC is even beneficial, sparing consumers from long downloads, ensuring full compatibility during online multiplayer matches, and extending the game's retail lifespan. Capcom has also argued that by presenting the twelve additional characters as DLC, the company can avoid releasing a “Super” version of the game next year.
So, Capcom is arguing that how players obtain access to DLC content doesn't matter. Gamers are irate because of a feeling that DLC should truly be something extra that wasn't finished at the time of the game's completion. Since the twelve DLC fighters for Street Fighter x Tekken are available on full on the original disc, gamers feel that they had to be completed as part of the game's original development cycle.
Right now, the Better Business Bureau isn't taking action against Capcom, so their stance is a perfectly legal one. The Street Fighter x Tekken buyers who made the original complaints are working to have them re-opened, though, so the on-disc DLC debate is far from over.
SOURCE: Capcom Is Proud To Charge You Extra For Game Content That's On The Disc You Already Paid For [Kotaku via GamesIndustry.biz]
Dessan
April 03, 2012 at 2:47pm
I get that it doesn't matter where the content is or isn't. That it's not meant to come with the game that you buy. I get it. It's not ilegeal. Right. But don't do it. It's not cool. For all we know, you (Capcom) planned, designed, and built the game in its entirety, all within the budget, and THEN looked at it once everything was done, and cut things out and put paywalls in front of it. Just to get your fans to shell out even more for the game than the amount you originally planned to sell the whole thing for, which was and still is enough for you to make the profits you were expecting to have from the start. Again, for all we know. And that, as I'm sure we can all agree, is a bad thing. We don't want companies doing this to us. Splitting the finished product into tiny pieces, selling the first slice for full price and selling the rest as DLC. Whether it's on the disc or not. It's outrageous. Sure, you can claim that it was all developed in parallel by a second team, and it was all a totally separate project with its own separate budget and investment that needs to see its own separate return. You can claim that, but we'll never really know. Not when you had it ready to go when the full game went into replication. In the future, this could be used as the excuse every single time. Capcom has started down the path of trying to merge the traditional revenue model with the free-to-play model and have it both ways. Don't let them have it both ways And don't try to tell me they're a business and that their goal is to make money. I know that. I just want them to be better at it. Pulling crap like this is not helping their image or consumer confidence or customer loyalty. They can be as greedy as they want to be, but their goal is to get me to willingly part with my money; if they weren't so STUPID, and went about accomplishing that goal with some tact and intelligence, they wouldn't try to pull off these asinine stunts.
