Paid DLC and season passes

What you're actually buying

Extra downloadable content after launch: maps, story chapters, characters or cosmetic items, sometimes sold in advance as a 'season pass' (a bundle of future content). The base game works without them, although some content can feel carved out of it. Prices can add up to far more than the box.

How it works

Publishers had spent a decade watching used games resell without earning them a cent. DLC (downloadable content) let them charge again after the till receipt, with no new disc, no shelf space and no retailer's cut. The model split in two. Done well, it is genuine extra content worth the price. Done badly, it teaches games to hold pieces back: the base game is sold first, then the rest of it in slices, one pack at a time. Buying a game stops being a single purchase and becomes a habit with no end date.

When it's fine

When the extra is plainly new, finished to the same standard, shown before you buy and not already on the disc. Rock Band's weekly song releases and Mass Effect 2's extra content are examples of DLC that was clearly new.

Where it came from

Xbox Live Marketplace opened alongside the Xbox 360 in November 2005, giving consoles a storefront and a hard drive. On 3 April 2006 Bethesda released Oblivion's Horse Armour pack for $2.50 (200 Microsoft Points): purely cosmetic, widely mocked, and reportedly one of Bethesda's better-selling downloadable packs anyway. The model then split. Rock Band built its music store one week at a time from 2007, and Mass Effect 2 sold DLC as real content. Modern Warfare 2's Stimulus Package (30 March 2010) charged 1,200 Microsoft Points ($15) for five maps, two of them Call of Duty 4 remakes, content that felt carved out before launch, and Street Fighter X Tekken (2012) shipped extra characters on the disc that only DLC unlocked. Publishers resented the used-game market, where GameStop's margin on pre-owned titles was near 50%, and that resentment seeded online passes and day-one DLC (content released on launch day). The Sims 4's base game has been free since 18 October 2022, yet its 79 add-on packs are listed at $1,473.06.

Historical prices and revenues are in US dollars at the time unless marked A$.