Capcom has been under scrutiny for their policy on DLC in recent months. Numerous complaints have been filled with the Better Business Bureau against Capcom because of their practice of using disc-locked content on copies of Street Fighter X Tekken for consoles. Twelve fighters are locked until the Vita version of SFxT is released this fall. Once the characters are unlocked, gamers will have to buy them for an expected $20.
Consumers who made reports to the Better Business Bureau received a message with Capcom's response. Here's what Capcom said:
"At Capcom, we value our customers and make every effort to resolve customer complaints. We are sorry to hear that [censored] was so disappointed with the Street Fighter x Tekken game (''SFxT''), and would like to respond to his complaints.
SFxT has an enormous amount of content, fully developed and available for play and enjoyment immediately on-disc. Given the 38 characters available for full play, as well as multiple play modes, SFxT provides great value for all players from day one. While Capcom is sorry that some of its fans are not happy about the chosen method of delivery for the DLC, we believe that this method will provide more flexible and efficient gameplay throughout the game's lifecycle. There is effectively no distinction between the DLC being ''locked'' behind the disc and available for unlocking at a later date, or being available through a full download at a later date, other than delivery mechanism.
We hope that this addresses [censored]' concerns."
Capcom has taken the stance that it doesn't matter how they deliver content, whether it be disc-locked or downloadable. They consider content already on the disc a "delivery mechanism." They don't believe they are withholding content.
Personally, I disagree. When I buy a something, I want access to all of it. Disc-locked content appears greedy to me, as content that was planned for the game was taken out and then sold to me after I already bought the disc. Brand loyalty must be a concern for publishers and this just doesn't seem like the right move.
Source: CinemaBlend
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T_Dawg135
The part everyone seems to be missing is that Capcom essentially said they were going to "remove' some of the content they had developed from the "full" game and sell it after launch no matter what. They simply chose to do so in a manner that is better for the multiplayer community afterwards. I certainly don't agree with the practice, but on disc or not, Capcom was going to stick it to their fans and charge for this content anyway.
Lexus
Reminds me of those old Nintendo Pokemon practice in which we had to go to great lengths to get a Mew.
nbl54
Speak with your wallets and don't support Capcom. The more we accept as gamers, the further they will push the envelope.
geomancer21
Ofcourse they don't see a distinction. because acknowledging it would mean admitting that they were too greedy to pay for the cost of having the content hosted and want to use their customers as personal storage devices.
Look, you want to hold back content for sale later? FINE! I disagree with it, but whatever, i can see arguments supporting it. but keep your crap off of MY disc. i paid for it, i -ing OWN it. Don't give me this BS about making it easier. if i can't play against certain characters/players because i didn't buy the DLC then thats MY choice. if i don't have enough room on my hard drive for the DLC (one of their excuses was to save space for people) then it is MY responsibility, NOT YOURS!
Shiva64
Capcom isn't exactly making the right decisions, and while they may think they are, from an actual logical standpoint, they're really not.
How much was the game when it came out? $60? I don't play their fighting games (or really, much of any of their games anymore), so I have no clue.
When I go out to buy games, I'd expect to get what I paid for. I paid for that disc/license/what's included.
I didn't pay to get what's on that disc PLUS pay extra to make /full use/ of the content ON that disc.
I have no problems with paying for DLC in general (if I feel it isn't worth that price at launch, I just wait for a sale, or I just won't get it if I won't use it at all), as it does add to the game. But... don't expect me to pay another $20 for something that's /already included/. That's not how DLC works! Did they think that gamers were dumb? Were they really hoping no one would find out until they're ready to "officially" launch the "DLC"?
Capcom is just severely being money hungry and trying to take advantage of the consumer. They're going down EA's route of being a greedy corporation. I am not OK with this. A lot of consumers are not OK with this. How Capcom is handling this is also not OK. They need to admit their mistakes if they expect to keep being in the business.
I would really really love to buy Monster Hunter Tri if it comes out to the US, as well as MH4, but if they don't man up and change their attitude about this, they can forget about me buying those two games. I'd rather just buy another 3DS and simply make that my pirate system and get my games through... not so legal means. Yes, I would be willing to give Nintendo more money just so I can have a non-legit system (and keep it from connecting to the internet while not interfering with my legit 3DS/games) so I wouldn't have to give Capcom my money for what they're doing...
unami
I get what capcom is saying - they made this content that they didn't want to be part of the initial release, even thought it was ready. And they do have a point - whether they put it on the disc, or make it available later for download, it's still the same basic thing - additional content beyond what they wanted in the original release.
Having said that - this was a MAJOR screw-up on their part. Regardless of whether or not the end result is the same (more content for a price), people who bought the game feel like they've been wronged, and that's one of the worst things they could've done.
In the future, they should keep additional content developed before initial release a secret, then market it as DLC at a later date.
Btw - as a software engineer for a small unnamed company, it's not unusual to work on multiple release streams at once, and sometimes you have fully designed features for future releases ready before the initial release is done, but it's not exposed on the initial release because it's not part of the feature-set.
unami
I get what capcom is saying - they made this content that they didn't want to be part of the initial release, even thought it was ready. And they do have a point - whether they put it on the disc, or make it available later for download, it's still the same basic thing - additional content beyond what they wanted in the original release.
Having said that - this was a MAJOR screw-up on their part. Regardless of whether or not the end result is the same (more content for a price), people who bought the game feel like they've been wronged, and that's one of the worst things they could've done.
In the future, they should keep additional content developed before initial release a secret, then market it as DLC at a later date.
Btw - as a software engineer for a small unnamed company, it's not unusual to work on multiple release streams at once, and sometimes you have fully designed features for future releases ready before the initial release is done, but it's not exposed on the initial release because it's not part of the feature-set.
BlackStarNova
"There is effectively no distinction between the DLC being ''locked'' behind the disc and available for unlocking at a later date, or being available through a full download at a later date, other than delivery mechanism."
Uuhhh yeah there is! The difference is you're making us pay a second time for something we already own!!!!!!!!!!!!
BryanHelp
I only buy Used Capcom games now! Once things go completely digital and supposedly lame. Retro gamer for life! :D
MrFishBulb
"There is effectively no distinction between the DLC being ''locked'' behind the disc and available for unlocking at a later date, or being available through a full download at a later date, other than delivery mechanism."
When I make a purchase in the virtual marketplace where the content is 108.00 KB, I'm not buying Downloadable Content, I'm buying a word document.
JustTheBeginning
Any content made before a game has gone gold, or even shipped and stabilized (bugs, server issues) should be part of the $60 purchase price. The whole concept of DLC is to enable continued development and support for a game AFTER it has been released! Not make a game, ship 75% of it on day one and then slowly release the other 25% later on while now putting a penny extra into more development time! I swear Capcom must think gamers are either stupid or they are just so big they can do whatever they want.
omnibe1
I don't see what people are complaining about. They new exactly what they were getting when they agreed to buy the game. Capcom's explanation that having the content already on the disc will allow people who don't by the extra stuff to play online against people who do but the extra seems proactive and down right helpful to me. Its certainly better than what they did with Super Street Fighter 4.
macross2012
LOL have to buy them.. NOT
Garlador
Nailed it.
Honestly, what does Capcom think the "DL" part of "DLC" stands for? If it's on the disc, you don't download it, so it's not DLC.
And that IS a very big distinction.
Displaying 1–14 of 14