10 DLCs That Single-Handedly Saved Video Games
They're not just expansions. They're the whole game!
Sometimes, the initial release of a game doesn’t go as planned. The title either turns out to be an unfinished, rushed mess, or it simply lacks something that fans were dying to see.
A botched release can ruin an entire franchise. The ridicule from the fans and the negative reviews leave a mark that not many games can recover from (looking at you, Cyberpunk). However, some developers do find a way to make amends for past mistakes with DLCs. They create expansion packs and updates that completely surpass people's expectations and breathe new life into the title.
The world of gaming has plenty of examples of franchises that saved themselves with good DLC. Sometimes, in order to revitalize the game and take it off that course towards obscurity, all that's needed is to address key issues and add new content that the audience was clamoring for.
Let’s examine some of the greatest DLCs in the history of video games that managed to save their games from failure.
10. Legion - World Of Warcraft
When it comes to the impact each expansion pack had on World of Warcraft, the name "Cataclysm" is pretty self-explanatory. The controversial changes added in the DLC didn't resonate well with the community, causing a major decline in the game’s popularity.
Since then, World of Warcraft's fanbase kept shrinking, and even though expansion packs like Warlords of Dreanor were able to rope some of them back in momentarily, the trend continued for more than half a decade. People just weren't that interested in playing retail WoW anymore. That is, until Legion came to save the day.
Legion is considered World of Warcraft's last good expansion pack. This is mostly due to the fact that it listened to the community's feedback and fixed a lot of the issues people had been pointing out for years. It reimagined the talent tree and the levelling system while also adding some creative dungeons and raids, as well as a new Demon Hunter class.
Legion was the reason why so many people gave retail WoW a second chance. Too bad it all went down the drain once Battle for Azeroth was released.