8 Ways Greed Is Wrecking Modern Gaming

Whereas once game companies would release a single, completed video game, the modern era sees games chopped up and fragmented into an endless stream of DLCs and expansion packs that are purchased separately.

The incentive, clearly, is to keep consumers spending indefinitely. Battlefield 4, for example, was saturated with DLC to the point of absurdity; five expansion packs had been announced before the game had even been released, not to mention a 'DLC Season Pass' for the low price of double that of the original game. The 'Ultimate Shortcut Bundle', meanwhile, allowed willing buyers to access pretty much every merit-based unlockable early in the game, creating an almost Thatcherite playing field where richer players can trample the poor by using purchased high-tier weaponry.

What developers don't seem to understand (that is, if they even care) is that the mere existence of preplanned DLC itself is an insult to loyal fans; the whole point of an expansion pack is that it expands an already-finished game, usually due to popular demand from impressed fans - sort of like when a band plays an encore after a big applause. Developers these days are simply snipping games in half and charging full price for both pieces.