The Witcher 3 Expansions Changing the Way Game Industry Looks at DLC

HGC:
Game of the Year in 2015, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has since changed the way the industry looks at open world RPGs and you can bet that within the next few years we will see a surge of RPGs that follow a formula similar to it. The Witcher’s effect on the gaming industry, however, doesn’t stop there.

[Imp0ssibl3]

CD Project rocks, enough said.

[nowitzki2004]

One of the few developers that make me feel that they are truly there for the gamers. I appreciate CD Projekt Red, and the magical work they do.

[Paytaa]

They're probably the most important dev that should never be bought out by a large publisher. Maybe they're the catalyst to get gaming ethics back on track because they're doing every gamer right.

It's a sad reality when classic game developer ethics are a luxury.

The Witcher 3 was the first game in a long time where I felt I got way more than $60 worth and the letter of appreciation inside made me realize there are AAA developers who still give a damn.

Best game this generation so far in my opinion.

[_-EDMIX-_]

no...........no its not. lolz.

"major AAA games like Rise of the Tomb Raider (which ran about 25.5 hours to complete), Call of Duty: Black Ops III (which ran 19.3 hours) and Halo 5: Guardians (which ran 14.3 hours)"

Why are you comparing other non-RPG titles in regards to time?

Many RPGS with expansions have them around that time...

If you consider all of Fallout 3's DLC is longer then MOST GAMES that are not RPGs, its not anything to write home about, its actually quite normal....

Play other RPGs with expansions and you'll find what your actually talking about in terms of non-Japanese RPGs is quite normal with expansions...

[Rayven]

I think the point of the article is that Witcher 3 not only gives you great price to time value, it is also excellent in story-telling and game design. The fact is, game developers should put in the same time and effort CDPR gives to their games. And this should apply to all game genres that attempt to tell stories, not only RPGs.

[_-EDMIX-_]

"developers should put in the same time and effort CDPR gives to their games"

I mean...do you just think that some developers make RPGs just not caring?

Its subjective, I'm pretty sure the directors, writers, designers etc of other titles don't just go in not caring about their work.

Its just unproven and not even something tangible.

I mean you kinda have to factor that its an RPG. Based on time and length, RPGs have more time to tell you a story vs other genres where they have to have way better pacing.

Take The Last Of Us.

I don't just say or think that other developers merely don't care or put as much "effort" because The Last Of Us is a great game, merely that its one of many great games.

You nor I actually know what other developers go through when they are creating their games, I just can't say they are not putting in "effort" and I've played The Witcher series since the very first game.

The value in the time is only a value if its actually good vs filler.

Mind you, I feel that way about all RPGs, if I'm playing past 100 hours, its because I like what I'm playing, but MOST of the RPGs I've played in the last few years have been well over 100 hours.

So that might be more so geared towards RPGs.

[Rayven]

@_-EDMIX-_
It looks like you still don't understand the point. The article nor do I believe that all games should be as long as The Witcher 3. It's the quality that matters and having a long play time is another excellent factor in considering how much of a great game it is.

And the reason that play time was mentioned was because witcher 3's dlc story is actually longer than the campaign or story of a lot of games. Note that I said story, not including, in your words, filler. I looked it up for you, hearts of stone is 10 hours, +4 with "fillers."

The last of us was great as it had a perfect amount of play time compared to its story, but do you think halo 5 gave people a satisfactory campaign both in terms of story and play time? How about the order 1886? I'm not saying every game aside from from witcher 3 sucks, what I'm saying is the game is a model that future games should follow instead of the current unsatisfactory main game to make way for dlc trend.

[Rayven]

And btw, I looked up the play time of fallout 3's dlcs, they have an average play time of 3 hours each;

http://howlongtobeat.com/ga...
http://howlongtobeat.com/ga...
http://howlongtobeat.com/ga...

[_-EDMIX-_]

"And the reason that play time was mentioned was because witcher 3's dlc story is actually longer than the campaign or story of a lot of games."

What I stated...

"Why are you comparing other non-RPG titles in regards to time?"

Have you not factored that Fallout 3's DLC combined is still longer then most games campaigns?

Yet why choose Fallout 3?

New Vega's DLC combined is longer then many games released as well...

http://howlongtobeat.com/ga...
http://howlongtobeat.com/ga...
http://howlongtobeat.com/ga...

sooooooo that isn't some new concept, that is sorta a moot point as RPGs generally are longer games...

Consider some first areas and parts of RPGs are longer then most games.

That isn't a concept created by Witcher 3, new to Witcher 3, exclusive to Witcher 3 etc.

I mean...how many articles are telling you about this?

http://howlongtobeat.com/ga...

or

this.

http://howlongtobeat.com/ga...

Know why? Well its because like I've stated before....its actually the norm.

" what I'm saying is the game is a model that future games"????

What on earth are you talking about? The developer is following a model that was started and established BEFORE they even entered gaming. They are NOT the first to do this. Its starting to sound like MOST who are in aw and shock of Witcher 3's expansions actually don't game outside of console or just never played lots of RPGs to know just how normal this actually is.

http://howlongtobeat.com/ga...

The expansion to that game too was longer then most games and around the same hours as the Witcher 3 expansion we are talking about. Know why its not "changing da game"? Know why its not the "future" of how folks make DLC? Because it is the current norm of the industry already and has been for a very, very long time.

That isn't Biowares first RPG expansion...

[Two-Face]

Heart of Stone was better experience than many other full games I have played the past year.

[Takwin]

It legitimately could be a top 10 game from 2015, along with The Witcher 3, which was my #1 (last year and all time).

[Shillmeister]

Funnily enough, CD Projekt RED are changing the industries perception and thoughts on DLC by going back to how it use to be: proper full expansions, with fresh new content, at great value for the gamer. This on top of giving away free content post-release!

[_-EDMIX-_]

Because we never got free content before?

Because a RPG has never released an expansion before?

I mean......how old are some of you? lolz

[tablecloth]

Dude take a chill pill, you misread too much. lolz

[Dark_Crow]

Because it is no longer the norm.

How old are you and do you live under a rock that you haven't noticed the changes in the industry.

[_-EDMIX-_]

@Table-irrelevant and OT.

@Dark_Crow- actually it has been the norm.

RPGs have released with expansions pretty much since we've had RPGs....

Dragon Age, Baldur's Gate, Diablo, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, Neverwinternights, Fable, Divinity series, Mass Effect....but no, its not the norm huh?

Explain what you mean bud? How has it changed? When did we not get expansions with RPGs?

Has Mass Effect not released expansions?

Has Dragon Age not released expansions?

Elder Scrolls?

Fallout?

Divinity series?

Is Obsidian not doing an expansion for pillars of eternity?

Sooooo let me guess, they are doing expansions now on that game due to Witcher 3 changing the game huh bro?

Explain how its not the norm. Saying "its no longer the norm" doesn't actually cut it bud, stop being vague and actually really explains how suddenly no RPG developer was doing this as a long time RPG gamer, no....

That is untrue and for a mater of fact other teams have been and are still currently doing expansions.

Many have been doing free DLC even before CDPR's existence....

If we are going to say they did something right, lets say what they are doing right...not making up what others are or are not doing when for a fact its still the norm of RPGs.

[mep69]

No, CD Project are just making digital expansion. Which is all dlc should be. That is how it was before dlc and consoles (starting with the xbox 360) ruined it.

[Aenea]

Huh? Digital as opposed to physical???

Don't get what you mean...

[mep69]

well, before people had decent internet they made expansions for game that needed them and they were always justified. Now we have dlc it's just any random crap they can churn up. But CD Project have stuck to the old way of making a proper expansion but distributing it digitally.

[Gaming_Machine]

CD Project isn't changing the way the gaming industry looks at DLC. They are simply doing what the gaming industry used to do in terms of DLC. Making proper expansions and add-ons for a complete game at a reasonable price.

[Dark_Crow]

Contradictory. If that's what it used to be and now it has changed and they are going back to what it used to be then it's another change.

[annoyedgamer]

You mean going back to how it was?

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Exactly.... the expansion content for The Witcher 3 is 100% exactly how the industry used to handle add on content. You bought the main game, then maybe a year or so later you got an expansion to the game that added in a whole new layer of story and areas to play.

The reason companies got away from the expansions is that MP really became important for way too many games. Companies saw MP as the golden ticket as creating map packs is far easier than creating a SP expansion plus MP was viewed as a way to keep the community engaged more vs SP.

This past year we really saw a resurgence of single player only games which means creating additional content to sell more than likely will be in the form of expansions to the SP. The Witcher 3 isn't doing something new, they are just doing expansions well and better than most.

[theshredded]

Stop this BS praising of CD project red. PC gamers defend this game like it's some kind of exclusive. Bioware, RockStar Bethesda, and many others have long given us expansions, CD project red is just following the traditional expansions we know and love.

[annoyedgamer]

That was the past. We should prise CD Project for this because they are showing this model is still relevent. Oh and their lack of politically correct games is refreshing.

[Geothe200]

The Witcher saga is discribed as a cult series. I try to not mix it with acute all politics by accept it as its own art.

[nitus10]

Could not agree more, being politically incorrect is what makes this game so refreshing.

One thing that I have noticed allot in The Witcher 3 are the shear number of quests you can do and how many of them are not "go there, kill that", although you can if want. In fact if the enemy can talk you can sometimes reason with them (Trolls in particular) and not even have to fight which can actually earn you more experience and money.

There are some quests you can pick up which are normally so far beyond what your current level can possibly handle so there are certain hints such as the recommended level for the quest as well as the display of the enemy life bars (ie. "Red" - challenging, "Red Skull" - you are going to die, run).

I do think that anyone who plays this game should play on the harder difficulties since you never get to appreciate the intricacies of the game-play.

[sullynathan]

muh CDPR and Witcher 3 praise. No other game did this before, no other game or company in this gen did this before/s

In reality, they didn't set any new standard for open world, rpgs or DLC like you people claim.

[kupomogli]

More white knighting about how CD Projekt Red is saving the video game industry. CD Projekt Red isn't changing the way people look at DLC, other devs have done this long ago on the PS360, or even further back when PC games released these expansions at retail.

GTA4 and Oblivion are the first ones I can remember last gen that actually created large expansions on top of their games.

Additionally. Here are some scummy sales tactics that CD Projekt Red has abused.

-The infamous graphics downgrade. Like freaking night and day.
-16 pieces of free DLC. Short quest lines and visual items that were held from the game in order to get the player to keep the game for a longer period of time.
-a game even more broken than an Elder Scrolls game at launch.

The game is a good game, don't get me wrong, but let's take a look at some other games that use this similar style.

Diablo 3 Reaper of Souls and Dragon's Crown as examples. The developers didn't come out and try to sell to gamers based on adding more content. Years after the release of Dragon's Crown the developers were adding more content through free patches as well as updates to the characters. Diablo 3 is also adding more content through updates. Just in the last six months there's been a new cube to allow the players to rip special skills from legendary equipment to further customize the character with three different buffs, increasing the max difficulty to torment 10, adding new areas to explore, expanding old areas, set dungeons designed for each character, etc. Previous patches included the cow level, the goblin vault, new treasure goblin types, etc. These additions have been added on a regular basis for free, not some developer touting how they're going to save the industry and the fanbase blindly following them when the developer really is just withholding content so you don't sell your game in the first few months.

Good game or not, all the white knighting for CD Projekt Red is really unjustified. The company is doing no more than expected and as I've pointed out, Witcher 3 isn't safe from the sleazy practices other companies have done.

[Dark-Funeral]

What wrong with people hating everything about the witcher 3....

if u hated the game, fine no problem.

but the idea is to encourage gaming market that we the gamers support who is giving me the content that worth the price,, dlc that cost less with the same amount of content f a 60$ game !!

do u like games like son of Rome !! or the order !! 5 or 10 hours for 60 $ !!!!!! yes u would say don't buy it but the idea of trying to force a new concept of games that does not much offer with the same price of a huge game.......

free market would be best as 60= AAA and lower prices for smaller less developed games ( hint : Japanese companies is using this strategy now!)

hope EA knew that Fifa cost is differ than basketball games and the prices of these two games should be different

good job CDPR and any one taking that approach

[sullynathan]

eh people don't like when these outlets just throw praise at one company because it means that these same outlets are more than likely to ignore anything that these companies will ever do that is bad.

I mean, TW3 got a giant downgrade graphically but does anyone talk about that? no.

Watch dogs got a giant downgrade and yet whenever the game is mentioned people bring that up.