Why Fighting Game DLC is Failing

[@spadedonemcdysentery2493]

These dlc pricing models are killing any interest I have for one of my favorite game genres.

[@GaaraFPS]

It’s every genre…

[@YourXellency]

I only bought Lily's outfit with those old FCs I had left over from Day One. I don't buy anything else except for the characters. LOL!

[@damianateiro]

​@@GaaraFPSMost competitive games are free and you can unlock characters for free and even try them out; In most FG the DLC characters are paid, you cannot try them and you pay 60 to 70 dollars, there is a difference and quite a bit

[@tempoaccla4041]

Pushing political ideals from writers and activists Greedy corporate rats trying to squeeze every single last cent and minute of the day from players These two groups of parasites that have invaded gaming in the past decade and a half have destroyed gaming and I'm pretty close to being done with the entire medium, thankfully games like Baldur's Gate (also has some political pushing but whatever) and Tears of the Kingdom so I can at least play those

[@riskypugga]

Couldn't agree more

[@Killerboyh]

Remember when you had to beat the arcade/ story mode to unlocks characters. Those where the good times.

[@SirLightsOut99]

Yes, but I also remember when you had to pay $60 for a new version of the same street fighter game every year because they added a few characters. DLC strategy, at least for characters, does suck but also I’d rather pay 30 for a season pass then I would 60 for a brand new game every year.

[@AirLancer]

@@SirLightsOut99 The other side of that is that if you were getting in later, you'd get everything anyway for a lower price.

[@SirLightsOut99]

@@AirLancer I don’t see that is being any different from today. Most fighting games nowadays will do some kind of ultimate edition a few years into their run where they combine the original game with all the DLC packs. If you’re lucky they’ll sell it at the price of the original game and if you’re not you must be buying Tekken seven. I think the biggest downside of DLC structure compared to buying games at a consistent rate every year is that the online stays consistent, meaning that you will be put up against overpowered characters who were just released and you probably will be bullied into buying those characters yourself to keep up. Compare that to something like SF four where yeah, you were spending a load of money every year, but also if you were playing vanilla and all of your friends were playing vanilla, you didn’t have to worry about accidentally stumbling into a fight with an ultra character. It’s a weird 50-50 situation. Current strategy sucks but we can’t really boast about the days when you could unlock characters either because that had its downsides as well.

[@Swillo]

Yes I remember buying 20 copies of the same game every time they added some minuscule amount of content. People only remember the parts of the past that they enjoyed while ignoring the bad parts. Fighting games can still get better but they have progressed a lot

[@Hillthugsta]

I also remember that that was considered too grindy not long ago. As if being rewarded for simply playing the game was a bad thing.

[@RandomRon005]

The problem with DLC these days is for each era, DLC feels less like an expansion of the game & more like an part of the game that was taken out of the base game & sold separately: - Early Era: You had Fighting Games coming out with different iterations they put in arcades & consoles. I'm actually going to give this era a pass since not only was it a time where video games were experimental, but it was also a time before games could be patched & most of the games felt like completed full games. - Incomplete/On-Disc DLC Era: You had many games coming out as incomplete whether it lacked content or was a buggy mess. To add to it, you had companies immediately announcing DLC for said incomplete games, some of which were already on the disc you bought. - Loot Box Era: You're basically paying for a chance to get the item you want in what was essentially gambling (Surprise Mechanics). - In-Game/Mobile Currency Era: In-Game Currency was nothing new. As much as I rag on SFV, it handled its DLC decently. But this day & age has taken it to the max. High-Budget game companies are pretty much doing what mobile Free-To-Play games are doing, but unlike those where it was free, you're still paying full-priced for the game. You're not even paying for the DLC anymore. You're paying for the currency to get the DLC, & often times that currency will be slightly under the amount you wanted.

[@Spongemonkey26]

Even in the 360/ps3 era, I felt DLC was marketed as an expansion of the game, but in reality was just held-back content, in order to squeeze more money out of the customer-base.

[@JamesPlaysGames-tm5oe]

Ermac and Quan chi are an example of getting taken out the base roster and sold seperately, if they didnt have time, then why not delay the game?

[@SirVolt]

​@@JamesPlaysGames-tm5oeWB games, that's why

[@vandagylon2885]

Dlc has always been cut content sold as separate content

[@JohnnyBlake-bu4hl]

*coughs* Black Desert *coughs*

[@jefftheindianchief8279]

One of my biggest pet peeves when it comes to fighting games is the incessant need to intentionally cut & eventually charge for returning characters.

[@pian-0g445]

NRS is the most blatant. Straight up dlc character on launch (and on disc).

[@damianateiro]

​@@pian-0g445You forget that Capcom has been doing it since the PS3 and does it to this day

[@xss-3316]

@@donutsama285 Tekken 8 is dropping with 32 and brought back a good chunk of the legacy characters. Let's not act like this is a business necessity and not just greed.

[@thejokerstyle100]

​@@xss-3316Harada lied about tekken 7 dlc....nuf said

[@xss-3316]

@@thejokerstyle100I didn’t say they weren’t just as notorious, but having a base roster of 30+ for a legacy fighting game title is also not an unrealistic expectation.

[@MrCharlo83]

In game currency only makes sense if you can win it in the game. If you have to spend real money to have some, it's just a scam...

[@theultimateartist4153]

Remember back in the day when Tekken had a truck load of hours worth of content and easy ways to get in game currency if you just played, we had it good without knowing

[@dugthefreshest]

a scam is when you dont know what you're getting or being lied to. its not a scam to get exactly what you pay for lol.

[@theultimateartist4153]

@@dugthefreshest Exploitation a better word?

[@dugthefreshest]

@@theultimateartist4153 exploitation would be suited for content you need. Like if they charged for a mandatory balance patch you needed to continue playing. I could see SF4 versions being "exploitation" but back then everyone just paid up.

[@MrCharlo83]

@@dugthefreshest so why did you have to purchase a virtual money, and perishable by the way, if it's not for cheating us ? They could sold this in real money but no, they'd rather sold you in game money for abuse you. And that's sad because I love this game...

[@zengram]

When you pay more in microtransactions than the base game,something is really wrong! Its like buying a game twice

[@patrickmurphy9470]

I remember paying $50-$60 for a complete game and unlocking new fighters by beating it. Those times are long gone.

[@cmpork7145]

For games like that DLC was fine for you know you were getting extra from an already stacked game rather than getting pieces needed to complete a game.

[@theuzi8516]

Nowadays you are paying for a whole game and don't need to beat it to access the full roster. DLCs are not the equivalent of unlocked characters; the equivalent is if SF6 launched as it did but JP was locked behind World Tour.

[@cheesewheel789]

@@theuzi8516 but that doesn't excuse the limited roster we get now and the half to full game cost for the number of characters added to the small roster

[@convicsik]

$6 for a costume is not fine. They can charge 99 cents a costume and still make millions in profits. It's just greed.

[@alexspyro563]

I agreed. $6 for a costume is very expensive

[@mdqp2]

Pretty much. I can understand not wanting a price that low for individual costumes, but there should be a bundle option with a roughly $1 - 1 costume value. Then again, it's obvious Capcom has been monetizing their games more aggressively, and SF 6 is truly egregious, with everything on sale + battle pass and the usual season pass and a lot of content requiring in-game currency (the usual trick of mobile games). Let's not mention how even the "free" currency drops at abysmal rates, and any purchase can drain your reserves and force you to either fork out actual cash or forget about it. The prices being so high for costumes (with no bundle) is probably to convince people they are more valuable than they really are ("exclusivity" is sadly a thing that attracts big spenders, even for mass-produced, infinitely available digital goods).

[@Monty2289]

Agreed thats high af and Capcom did this under the pretext of: well you don't have to buy everyone But that begs the question why do it this way then if greed isn't the driving force. Lets say the maxim is true and you only get one costume for your main and nothing else. K. Now instead of handicapping you fist over dollar why not bundle and take more money definitively from the consumer instead of charging them for another 6 per costume they may not buy. The not bundle is telling you they are scamming. Even if the bundle is say 30 bucks they know if you buy 5 of the 18 they got you.

[@alexspyro563]

@@Monty2289 I understand that if you are working for a tournament you need to buy all the costumes for the players but the real question is how people buy 108 bucks for these? Even if you are a millionaire this is NO business at all

[@sauceinmyface9302]

But like, all of their competitors charge about 10 dollars for a costume. Just look at league, or valorant, or overwatch, or call of duty, or monster hunter, or resident evil 4 remake ffs. It doesn't matter how expensive the cosmetics are, as long as the gameplay at the center of it is good enough. People love counterstrike and team fortress 2, even though they pioneered all this shit in the first place.

[@JardsonJean]

I hate when people say "it's just cosmetics"... like that justifies anything. Games are about expression and there's a big reason why cosmetic options exist there. Even though SF6 is content packed, it's really shitty to see them putting such a high price tag and scummy business practice in the single most lacking part of the game: customization options for the main cast.

[@Hillthugsta]

Community places high value on an item. Company sees this and does the same. Community is shocked/disappointed. Im shocked. 😐

[@insomniasessions5347]

Right Anyone who's been into fighting games or the scene know that everyone gravitates to a skin and Color they always pick It becomes just as much a part of the fighter expression as a tag

[@gummyboots]

It's funny seeing people discover art has an entirely arbitrary value that is based on the desire of the buyer more than the desire of the seller. If you can fathom not buying a shirt someone made that costs $1000 dollars even if you really like it, then you can fathom not buying a VIRTUAL shirt someone made for $1000 dollars even if you really like it. Same with music, or sculpture, or paintings, etc. Skins are just art, you are buying art, art does not have a static price because it has no objective value. You will be much better off when you realize you don't need to digital character to have a fancy digital hat.

[@Daftanemone]

I remember the ps1 doa had like 30 unlockable costumes

[@Xenozillex]

"It's just cosmetic"- ppl who play cammy or juri for """reasons"""

[@mgmboy3778]

I just think the problem everything shouldn't just be DLC nowadays that's why a lot of people getting bored with fighting games because back when everything was unlockable it was fun or sometimes it was annoying to get some characters. But overall it is still gave us something to do if we got bored of fighting

[@theultimateartist4153]

This is something the younger gen needs to grasp, back in the day you had unlocks that gave you something to do adding to the experience especially for those who were into the game but didn't know. I do think however an option that allows casuals and tournament organizers to purchase without the work should be implemented as a norm not an exception

[@mgmboy3778]

@@theultimateartist4153 you know it's crazy because my coworker was actually talking about this and he thinks when it comes to fighting games this should be this thing it should be called all characters unlocked but cost $70 or $50 extra if you buy the game and comes with all unlockable from the start

[@theultimateartist4153]

@@mgmboy3778 Yeah, I do agree however I do think that an option for unlocking needs to stay, for one simple reason that it will teach players to play the game. If they did online weekly Tournaments for Newbies or arcade ladders that gave characters away it would help allot. I would argue keeping the genre alive through education and expanding the player base through learning and reward of characters will do economic wonders. It's not enough to just give characters away on empty stories or events but they should be rewarding for learning the game

[@AllStarJD]

The only fighting game I can think of that has a modicum of fair DLC prices are the WWE games. They have extra DLC wrestlers but you can usually get them in all in a bundle for like 30 dollars. They also have unlockable characters and outfits you get by playing the story mode and just playing matches, but for 5 or 10 dollars you can just unlock them all.

[@theultimateartist4153]

@@AllStarJD Thank you for sharing, I had not known this. Bundles are a must , I literally refused to take MK even before the financial controversy. I had to ask myself why am I buying a game that is not going to have a long life span or a dedicated fanbase. While bundles are great we also need longevity . The art of making complete games seems to be a thing of the past.MSH,MSGVSF,XMENCOTA, MVC1,MVC2,MVC3 are all complete games people still play to this day

[@byonixen]

6 bucks for a costume does NOT sound fine and if people think that something is wrong

[@ddsjgvk]

Especially when the wage is just like 15 bucks maybe a couple bucks more or less depending on the country

[@sauceinmyface9302]

Unfortunately, this is fairly standard for a lot of live service games nowadays. The benchmark has already been set by other games like Apex, Destiny, Valorant, Fortnite, and Call of Duty. And while most of these games are free, they are seriously stingy with cosmetics for non-paying players, resulting in pressure to spend to fit in.

[@Shinobi33]

Yea $6 is not fine. $3.99 is fine

[@byonixen]

@@Shinobi33 2 dollars max

[@I_AM_BAYTOR]

99 cents max, if that.

[@stevemartin8916]

The sad thing is Capcom has yet to fix/comment on the issue. Let’s hope this doesn’t turn into another SFxTEKKEN debacle.

[@calcutlass]

They're not fixing or commenting on it because the prices are very meticulously set and for every person that has a fundamental problem with it, there are two more who don't care.

[@YanDaMan263]

Disc locking half the roster thats already completed is NOT the same as charging $5 for a costume lmao. And believe it or not most people are ok with those skin prices. The vocal complainers are the minority.

[@grandsquanchrum]

@@calcutlass This is very true. Most people have experience with other live service games and Street Fighter is fucking generous by comparison. The problem is that fighting games have been behind on the live service model so no one that only plays fighting games is used to spending a premium on optional content. Not to mention many still think the live service model should be exclusive to free to play games. The prices are very obviously fine. We already know we'll be getting them in a pack in the future because that's already Capcom's model from SFV. This whole model is obviously infinitely better than the old model where we had to buy the game over and over again for each update (which is still happening with games like Granblue Fantasy Versus and UNI).

[@Violent_Wolfen]

Of course they're not gonna fix it or comment on it, they're Japanese they'll fall on that sword.

[@TonyG718]

I am SO glad you are covering this. I was just browsing through my fighting game catalog and shaking my head looking all the characters I will NOT be playing as with all the gouging DLC prices of Season 1, Season 2, Season 3 passes, Character Passes, Team Passes and so fourth. I’ve accepted having the base weak roster and nothing more to my favorite fighters such as Street Fighter, Guilty Gear, Granblu, MK and so fourth. It’s out of control.

[@MrFraiche]

They really succeeded bringing the arcade experience back home. Feels like I’m pumping quarters in a machine again 😂

[@ThatSoulsGirl]

Sure, the misshandling of pricing in MK1 by NRS has been received 'better' cause they have gone back and changed stuff, but IMO the pricing is still too steep for a fully priced game and that's really the issue.

[@pggalantd]

Still charging $10 for 1 skin

[@outlawdg]

Yeah I'm not supporting any of SF6's business practices going forward until they've made some significant change

[@goob8945]

Hopefully they’ll see a downturn in sales from the costumes and pull a netherrealm. Looks somewhat unlikely, I’ve seen a lot of people online using them

[@outlawdg]

@@goob8945 yeah exactly, it does seem unlikely but the best we can do is stand our ground on this bs ✊

[@BlueLightningSky]

Seeing as the costumes are $6 don't expect it to go lower. The best they'll do is let you trade coins properly not this bullshit and maybe they'll give a discounted bundle of 3-4 costumes based on how many costumes each person bought.

[@grph1t3z]

Oh wow capcom didn’t earn your 20 bucks how sad

[@Xenozillex]

@@grph1t3z good thing they have people like you working under the desk.

[@SimpleSlave]

I used to love collecting fighting games. There was something weird, unique and quirky about them that I can't explain. But since the DLC/Season Pass Exploitation Craze started, collecting them have become prohibitively expensive and not worthwhile. I get it, and this DLC/Season practice seemed to have brought back fighters into prominence, well some anyways. But now they have become just another Live Service trap not worth pursuing anymore. The only one I usually keep an eye out for is the Mortal Kombat Ultimate Komplete For Realsies This Time Edition. And that's only because of the Story mode.

[@riffcrypt8438]

Yup. Idc what d00d and industry shills say, no the best time to get into fighting games isn't at launch, it's when the complete edition of the game comes out so you aren't being bent over the proverbial arcade cab and violated.

[@tmma1869]

I'm also picky with what modern fighting games to own. Was fooled into thinking Soulcalibur VI was good, turns out it's crap.

[@tempoaccla4041]

same, they are also slowly but surely getting ruined by both monetization and morons in their writing rooms pushing their political ideals into the games and ruining entire characters it's fucking depressing but whatever at least bbcf and ggrev2 have rollback, that's enough to scratch the fighting game itch until the end of time

[@SimpleSlave]

@@tempoaccla4041 "morons in their writing rooms pushing their political ideals" Oh? Care to share which are these political ideals that are bothering you?

[@KogashiwaKai]

The thing is these current DLC practices makes me remember back in the 360/PS3 era and somehow those past dlcs look reasonable

[@hurricane7727]

​@@iminyourwalls8309Ultra Sf4 had Every Thing in it. Also Base Sf4 has more modes than Ultra Sf4 and is like a Different Game

[@animaIpath]

⁠​⁠@@iminyourwalls8309 marvel 3 didn’t CONSTANTLY release revisions lmao they released ONE other game. Marvel Vs Capcom 3 and Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3

[@animaIpath]

⁠@@hurricane7727 ur very delusional, they released about 5 different versions of SF4. SF 4, Super SF 4, Super SF 4, Super SF 4 AE, Super SF 4 AE 2012 version; and lastly, Ultra SF 4 lmao

[@hurricane7727]

@@animaIpath That's what I meant. It had All the Costumes in Ultra Sf4 though I admit they Milked that Game

[@CensorTube84]

Never thought I’d see the day when MK charged the fan base for fatalities lol

[@robertn5364]

The way the dlc has been implemented has been a big fuck you to the fans. The tmnt was way overpriced for an avatar only item (honestly didn’t even look that great) and charging 300 vs 250 for a costume is just mind blowing bad. The fighting pass is the only thing that seems fair bc if you complete it you recoup all of your fighter coins, but outside of the arcade games I find very little of value in the fight pass

[@retroblue9558]

Paying twice the game for getting full experience or 100$ for a content you don't know is already enough to be baffling

[@dreamlanderjoel8162]

6:07 Six bucks for a costume doesn't sound fine to me. In Smash Ultimate, six bucks is the price of a Challenger Pack containing a playable character and a stage, and Mii costumes cost only 75 cents each.

[@neonkaiju]

Well said with the Oregon Trail analogy; I honestly don't even want any of the new costumes, but the whole ordeal just sours me on giving them any more money in general.

[@PhilomathBret]

A couple months ago they priced these worthless avatar pins you could barely see at SEVEN DOLLARS.

[@aricvinyard]

Tekken selling frame data is insane.

[@michaeltenbroeck1807]

The WB Games backtrack on the fatality DLC price was a setup. They started with a knowingly egregious cost and then backtracked to seem like the “good guys”. Now some people are happy paying $3.33 for a fatality. A core part of the game that was historically included in the base cost. It’s a GREAT ploy.

[@riffcrypt8438]

Oh yeah, all of these stats and the general layout of customer reactions are planned well in advance with almost 0 awareness from the gaming public. They've already done the math and know what % of people will be outraged, what % of people will buy anyway and shift that number around until they're making the most money no matter how many customers they sacrifice.

[@cooltwittertag]

​@@riffcrypt8438yeah the issue with this is companies dont usually do this, because its bad pr and they already knew what price people are willing to pay. This is a dumbass conspiracy please think about it for more than a second

[@riffcrypt8438]

@@cooltwittertag Market research and analysis is a conspiracy theory? Son your brain is smooth.

[@cooltwittertag]

@@riffcrypt8438 brother it makes them less money, please just think for once in your life.

[@cooltwittertag]

@@riffcrypt8438 this type of strategy is used on existing products when you try to increase the price and then backpaddle to a midpoint between old price and new one, not for new products which will just gain bad pr. This doesnt work without an established consumer base. Marketing 101

[@WorldOfWeebcraft]

They dont teach kids the value or perspective of money anymore.

[@iPlayGameNoTalk]

I refuse to buy anything that requires the use of FC. My balance has been 0 since launce and will remain that way. I actually wouldn't mind purchasing some outfit 3 if it was with actual cash.

[@NeoKurow]

They expect you to pay $5 for a costume and $8 for a single character... give me a break.. dlc are suppose to be addons and should not cost 15% or 25% of the complete game price.

[@jackkawf4449]

Also I imagined DLC being something that kept a game relevant til it's time to begin the next game. Maybe a year or so down the line, a new character or so just to give something new, and so on....but companies are literally announcing DLC before the game even launches....like why aren't these ideas being used for the game already if you planned them? Then don't release the game until you have those desired features.

[@asuraofwrath]

8 for a full characters is actully reasonable 5 for costumes is a bit steep

[@johnpark7662]

I do not want to pay free to play prices for a full priced game. Already feel scammed by buying the ultimate bundle that did not include the alt costume AND COLORS for the characters.

[@Oolong-Dong]

I am here to represent the old school gaming generation. We dont claim you and 6 bucks for a costume is not fine at all! 30 Bucks for a hypothetical bundle is still not fine. Not even if it includes all 2nd outfits. What is also not fine is Capcom knowingly screwing over the modding community to break their customization mods. They do not harm the game at all. They dont hinder performance, most of them dont harm Capcoms so called reputation and they have no influence at all on your opponents side. F*** Capcom! If i could still claim a refund i would pull the trigger on it right now!!

[@sunnymane]

What’s the appropriate price for costumes?

[@calcutlass]

Brother only a fraction of the mods are broken, vast majority of my skin mods are up and running just fine in game. I have mods on literally every character costume 1and 2 not to mention other ones like stage and sound mods.

[@calcutlass]

He's gonna say something like 2 bucks, or bring up an outdating pricing reference like a previous game.@@sunnymane

[@Saxandfifths]

​@@calcutlass Personally, I understand $3 for an outfit or something like $15 for all. I think we should also be able to use Drive Tickets on DLC if we have enough, though. No reason 4 costumes total $60 when I bought SF6 for literally $45 AT LAUNCH. DLC prices are nothing but corporate greed. I'm old school so I also feel like everything they release as DLC should be unlockable via in-game currency or accomplishments like fighting games traditionally did. Like why am I doing all these challenges for Drive Tickets if I can't save them up and buy a costume with that? There should be a choice between that and real money.

[@Oolong-Dong]

@@calcutlass Thank you for the heads up. I will check if some of my favorite mods are still working.

[@afrikasmith1049]

The 90s to early 2000s: In fighting games you get new characters by playing arcade or sometimes using cheat codes. There were upgraded installments with additional characters, but at least it wasn't crazy expensive. Today: You spend 80 dollars for a fighting game and you still have to pay 100 more for more characters, costumes and stages. Yeah...... I wanna go back to the 90s and early 2000s.

[@superhyperultra4857]

Premium in-game currency will always be scamming tactic these days

[@Qballiz2kool]

“6 bucks for a premium costume in 2023 does sound fine” I could pay 6 bucks and get a full character for that price in T7.

[@Overdoseplus]

KOF DLC has been pretty solid. You start with a huge cast, they keep adding favorites that didn't make it, dlc comes with free stuff and the game keeps being updated.

[@JayceeGenocide]

LOVE the game but get out of here. The DLC is 30 a team an EXPENSIVE RIP-OFF

[@jwill7998]

Six dollars for a costume ISN'T fine when you paid full price the game. Three dollars each, and a $40 bundle for all of them is acceptable.

[@AcceptYourDeath]

See that is why we are in this situation. How about 10 or maybe 50 cents for a costume ? For 40 bucks I would expect a SF 6.5 paying 60 for SF 6.0.

[@jwill7998]

@@AcceptYourDeath That's the high end of what I'd expect. Companies wouldn't bother with outfits at $0.50. Anyhow, I paid for the season pass assuming that character stages would be included with the character. Apparent Capcom doesn't think $80 is enough for that.

[@IVIUT3D]

the street fighter costume arguments leave out completionist, some of us like to have all available costumes in a game we like. its not about a main or rarely used, its more fun to have more options

[@TurnEternal]

Sure, you may only play one or two characters, but that doesn't mean you can't enjoy seeing new looks for the rest. Their absence makes the experience feel less "complete" to me. As much as I want to shell out to put Zangief in a suit, I'm going to wait and hope for a bundle so people coming over for meetups can use their preferred skins. It's not just TOs or even super competitive people that would benefit from it.

[@Leisli]

in all honesty not gonna support this. And premium currency should be legally band from everything. Put a pricetag on it wirh reallife currency or eff off

[@PhilomathBret]

*banned

[@riffcrypt8438]

One point that is completely glossed over is these are prices in full priced titles. $10-15 premium costumes only fly with people because the game is free, so it is seen as something akin to gladly overpaying or donating extra in support and gratitude for the fun you've been provided at no cost. If you are offering the same sort of pricing model in a title that already has a $60-70 price to get in the door it is a very very different situation. One a few occasions I have paid $20 for a Rocket League goal or car skin. In a fully price title however the only DLC I will ever purchase is if it is more gameplay, or in this case characters. There is also the fact that in SFV you could both grind the free currency for all DLC, and there was 0 predatory currency pricing.

[@Monty2289]

I'm so baffled with how out of touch the marketing department is here. If I werr charitable I would say they did it on purpose in NRS case. The backlash was expected so the pivot itself was the sale: "Look you're getting 3 for the price of one" Capcom has no excuse. They are always dollar first which to an extent is fine but in this case being less stupid would have earned them so much and its not even that hard

[@ZacsNotDead]

Not $10 it was $12. F MK1 and its price gouging BS. It would hurt less if they released a finished game but they didn’t. It was half assed and then they upcharged for basic stuff. STILL NO CROSSPLAY!?! TMNT had licensing costs…a fatality doesn’t. The price is still absolutely stupid but more understandable.

[@um931]

Dont offer $1m CapCup winner prize if you cant afford it and have to charge obscene prices for just some costumes. Its a really bad look. Capcom will ignore it and will do the same again.

[@zato-1766]

My assumption is that the numbers show they profit more off of whales that are gonna buy all the skins at an exorbitant price than charging a reasonable price for more sales. I think the divide between people who aren't gonna buy any microtransactions at all and those that are gonna buy all of them doesn't have much bleedover. There just aren't enough people that will buy only a certain portion of the DLC so this system is more profitable but it leaves those of us that will occasionally buy a skin for a dollar or 2 completetly kicked out of the market. So they get the backlash from that.

[@P_OmSa]

Yup, in the short term they'll definitely make a lot of money... long term, though, they might be shooting themselves in the foot.

[@zato-1766]

@@P_OmSa I doubt it, this system is more profitable and it's not generating any legitimate backlash that could result in lower sales of the actual game, because 1 fgs are growing a lot rn, and 2 it doesnt mess with actual gameplay so the experience is still 99.9% there for the occasional skin buyers. People are kicking up a storm on social media but trust me this will just be the standard in a year and no one will care about it.

[@KTSamurai1]

this measured approach is way too anti-consumer these companies shouldnt be selling funny money, they shouldnt be selling critical balance elements like characters in the first place, shouldnt have game passes in a premium game, and so on and so on. but because it's become "expected" i guess it's fine? it's normal so dont question it? this is how these companies work, they do something egregious, get pushback, dial back that egregious thing a tiny bit, then things quiet down and we get to be nickle-and-dimed in fun new ways. call this shit out

[@pedroroma933]

I love the positive thinking but dlc ain’t failing. I am sure they are making a fuckton of money.

[@calcutlass]

Yup. Just copped my Ryu costume 3.

[@sunnymane]

Thank you lol

[@raizen5371]

I'm sure he meant failing us as the consumer

[@Hillthugsta]

​@@raizen5371Not much of a fail if people are still buying them.

[@chrisville004]

All these companies trying to copy the Fortnite business model that shit doesn’t work for fighting games where unlocking cosmetics should usally be apart of the gameplay loop and give you a reason to play the game and actually earn something instead they wanna charge us for recolors of the same 2 skins

[@Sai1523]

People always make fun of DOA5 for having a shit ton of costume dlc, but they were usually a couple dollars and you could unlock up to 10 costumes per character by just play their arcade route. Of course they would go to trash their reputation in DOA6, but DOA 5 should have been the gold standard.

[@Sharky_0456]

unfortunately these arent mistakes and are decisions made to increase profits hopefully if theres enough outroar companies realise its not worth it but if that doesnt happen we will have to keep puting up with this or show we arent interested

[@sammythijs8641]

Nice video, i do think it’s worth pointing out NRS has not really changed course while this video seems to (unintentionally) paint it that way. Yes they lowered the price on the holiday fatalities but they continue to charge 10 dollars for 1 skin. To compare, just 2 years ago in MK11 they sold a movie themed skin pack for Sonya, Johnny, Sonya with the likeness of the actors along with their voicework with a more fair price of like 15 dollars. Mk fans used to get a lot more value out of their purchase compared to the shitshow NRS is running now i’m not buying anything of their cosmetics dlc until something changes

[@GamersUniteYT]

I'm SO glad I've stuck with indie fighting games like Phantom breaker omnia complete game none of this dlc BS but yall aint ready to talk about that

[@ZeroGaiaForce]

I'd love to buy a few, but in my country, 12 dollars is WAY too much money 💀 (Argentina).

[@sharkgamez505]

This was such a good video and funnily enough I made an essay recently for my 3rd semester of college on the monetization issues in modern fighting games because the topic was an essay where we informed the audience about a problem within a community we identify ourselves in. Despite us being in a revival of the genre if they keep up with this that revival could end quickly.

[@liv3vil-Kei]

Y'all could just join the Tekken community. Free costumes (unlocked by playing the game). Free colors (the audacity to even ask for money for this) free accessories. We at Tekken are eating good let me tell you.

[@hurricane7727]

Soul Calibur also has Character Customization too

[@gummyboots]

Tekken 7 made you have to pay for frame data.

[@anon3631]

I have too many brain cells to consider that.

[@Xseleon]

"...reach developer ears" I'm sure the complaints are reaching the developers, but it's the the people who choose the pricing that need to listen and respond to the feedback.

[@lowlifelenny]

The costumes are great but you don't see people using them that much. It seems a lot of folks just think it's not worth it. Personally I agree, but I might be tempted by a bundle at some point.

[@verguco6051]

then you see games like overwatch where you see everywhere the FUCKING $40 SKIN

[@IIBizzy]

Yep, Fighting game costumes are for me something different then a skin for my character in a free 2 play shooter,, I want mostly all of them and Capcom is not giving me a reasonable option for that.

[@hurricane7727]

The Complete Edition of that Game will have them all like Ultra Sf4 or Sf5 Champion Edition

[@jaskegoffii3968]

Remember in SF4 where you could get a bundle of multiple great costumes for $5? And now they want us to pay almost tthe cost of a character per costume? Ridiculous

[@hurricane7727]

I bought Ultra Sf4 which had all of them

[@KnightsofTheEmblem]

ST4 was peak

[@daviddamasceno6063]

Really feels like they're abusing their communities good will. And will back fire hard at some point. There was a moment in time where fighting games basically died, and I'm affraid it might happen again if they keep forcing this much monetization.

[@trippinjohn367]

yeah it sucks what crapcom is trying to pull right now with sf6, I mean how could you do something so scummy to one of your best games when we're at the peak of fighting game hype...

[@rankyb8088]

One thing about dlc fighters, when you release 1 at a time, online fights are full of them and mirror matches common

[@coderkind]

You got colour variations for free back-in-the-day; paying for them now doesn't make sense. Paying a nominal amount for a new costume I can understand, but I'm passing on SF6's current pricing structure; the costumes are way too expensive.

[@PhilomathBret]

Back in the day games were far cheaper to make and when you account for inflation, modern games are a much better deal. So instead of raising the price of the game to match inflation and drastically rising production costs, they just let some people pay for costumes etc. The game is great without the costumes anyways though.

[@realchezboi]

need to go back to colour customisation

[@coderkind]

@@PhilomathBret I don't disagree with anything you've explicitly said, but I'm not sure about it being drastically more expensive to offer colour options.

[@jesusgarciacruz9059]

And most of them are ugly af anyway. I don't understand how are people willing to pay for it.

[@Hillthugsta]

​@@realchezboiThat sounds great in theory... Until you run into a bunch of obnoxious color schemes hurting your eyes.

[@yamchayaku]

As much as I like SF6, their pricing of their DLC is ridiculous. The game itself is already pricey, and even more so with their character pass. The pricing of the smaller things like the outfits and the fighters pass also adds salt to the injury. It would be better better to price a lot of their minor DLC content because the new outfits totaling to over 100 is straight up wrong.

[@jorge86rodriguez]

I want to add that the worst issue is not the price of the dlc but lack of new gameplay content, games that do this frequently adds new game mods and gameplay for people to have fun. We get the worst part of a "live service" model without the good

[@hurricane7727]

True.Mk1 hasn't added anything while Mk Deception has More Gameplay Modes

[@michaelfinklea9295]

I remeeber when we used to get free stuff from just playing the game. And beating the story gave you a whole bunch of stuff, especially locked characters. Now we have to pay for everything. For MK, Characters that shouldve been main roster, are dlc, like Shang, Quan Chi, Kameleon, Ermac, like bro we literally fought them in the Story!!! And the dragon crystals are so hard and time consuming to recieve, and let alone in small amounts. Heck theres not really any free way of getting them, besides leveling your characters and playing the story mode. And the prices of the things in the store are ludicrous! 12$ for a fatality! 1000 dragon crystals for an announcer!!! Who is paying 10 dollars for someone to read off charcters and stages! And Capcom is even worse, the prices are way too high, barely any way to get any fighter coins. And the base roster for SF6 is small and many dlc charcters should've been base roster as well. Sure its a bit bigger than SFV, but at least you can work for more characters in SFV. Modern fighting games just pulled an Overwatch 2 on us and managed to do it even worse. We paid for a game, and didnt get barely anything for free in return. And heck at least Overwatch is changing up, by replacing the greedy man Bobby. And now we are slowly seeing a change where we get more free stuff. But as for the fighting games, Im glad we got new titles but my goodness give us what WE PAID FOR!!!😭

[@hurricane7727]

Mk11 was better than Mk1. I think in that Game Annoucers could be unlocked

[@michaelfinklea9295]

@hurricane7727 They could, you could literally get them for free, they just costs some time crystals, but hey, at least we could earn in that game.

[@elbo0079]

Does a single cosmetic skin offer 10% of the value of the whole game? Of course not. So $6 for a cosmetic in 2023 is not “fine.” It’s ludicrous. Just because we’ve gotten used to being abused by “live service” games doesn’t mean it’s ok. Would 10 skins offer the same value as the entire base game? Would 20? No? Then it’s not “ok,” it’s just Capcom saying “We know you’ll accept lower value in return for your money now that you’ve purchased the whole game.”

[@Hillthugsta]

And here I thought these were not 'just cosmetics'. I thought costumes were a fundamental part of gameplay. In the last few months/weeks people have been placing high value on something so mundane are now surprised/upset that the company puts a high value on them as well.

[@elbo0079]

@@Hillthugsta let’s not gaslight into thinking that the players are the reason Capcom is being greedy. They were always going to charge a ridiculous amount. The “live service” model is literally Sunk Cost Fallacy: The Game.

[@astrobat1638]

This is one of the reasons why I plan on buying SF6 6 years later or when the complete edition is released. I cannot spend money on every character individually on the roster.

[@Maxler5795]

I was incredibeky excited for sf6, so luch so i preordered (one day before which was my birthday lmao) the best edition for like 93 dollars. I got my money's worth but fuck the battle pass, fuck fighter coins, fuck your extra microtransactions capcom.

[@KnightsofTheEmblem]

same, I'm doubting my street fighter obsesion. 4 was peak I think

[@joshuaknox2724]

how is 6 bucks acceptable for 1 costume????????

[@consciousgentile5141]

It isnt

[@skittlz111]

I wanna be able to use DLC that I haven't purchased in training mode. Is that too much to ask?

[@Hillthugsta]

I thought you could.

[@skittlz111]

I mean across the board in all games. Maybe some you can but a majority you can't@@Hillthugsta

[@arpadszabo661]

SF6’s current bs is just hilariously inexcusable. Selling one set of cosmetics out of many more to come for 108$ is just on another level.

[@consciousgentile5141]

It should all be part of the season pass anyway.

[@Rhyds86]

Well said. I'm interested in cosmetic DLC's but only if I think it's a fair deal. Needless to say, I won't be enabling this greedy practise.

[@clay_reznor647]

There are going to be people that are going to try to defend it - "Its my choice if I want to buy the costumes." There used to be a time that we had to unlock the costumes just by playing. So what this tells me that they are going to start locking out more items in the future. Maybe Netherrealm will lock away fatalities. Or they'll charge you to play online on top of already paying for online play on PSN or Xbox live. This will price out the PC players. Trust me, theyre (Capcom) thinking about it. And the games are great, but these EA style monetization's are preditory. "$5 bucks for a skin? Ok." Well now you have to do a currency exchange for a package. $10 bucks will net you 12 points. Well, i dont want 12 points, i just want that one costume. No, i have to spend more money and let my balance linger there for a while. Also, they didnt sell a bundle. I would buy the bundles when they were on discount. It looks like Capcom did away with that. MK1 was kind of slimey to lock away Shang tsung on a preorder. Its bad news all around.

[@henry199xx]

That Oregon trail analogy was wild but I’m here for it pop

[@100BeastMike]

Have us Unlock Characters through arcade mode. In the case of SF6 the ninja turtles shredder and splinter all could’ve been actual character additions. With added story Halloween comes around release Darkstalker characters. DLCs in fighting games and in games in general aren’t even expansions of a complete game. They’re poorly done money grabs often to fix a buggy game or to fill a bare bones game.

[@ryo-kai8587]

The SF6 outfit prices are a bit high, but I expected it. It's definitely the F2P-style currency and coin bundles that are the issue. I still haven't bought any outfits, but if they let me just pay money for them, or buy exactly as many coins as I need, that will probably change.

[@yourstillwithme]

its really not rocket science that Capcom could offer us so many different ways to make this make sense and they are simply choosing to not GAF. they could bundle multiples together, price each individually and allow you to earn with drive tickets too, bundle all of them together, reduce the cost of each by 100 fighter points or something SF4 did DLC the best. You could buy character sets you wanted, or buy them all together and it was like $20 and THATS what it STILL should be. Tired of people thinking because "its 2023" higher prices are acceptable. Imagine thinking that pushing a digital download somehow has higher costs now compared to years ago. It used to BE HARDER to push games because they had to make discs and uploading updates was HARDER than it used to be. Shits easier for them now, and its getting harder for US for no reason. Capcom is just as shitty now as they were during SF6. They gave us the game and literally ran off and left us. bull.

[@choro-gon7187]

WTF IS THE POINT OF DRIVE TICKETS IVE BEEN SAVING THEM FOR NOTHING

[@MrRyuken555]

There is no point. They want your real life money.

[@Hillthugsta]

​@@MrRyuken555Thwn why have them in the first place?

[@OldSweaterz]

The biggest problem with prices like this is that they are charging this on top of a already full priced paid game

[@jesusgarciacruz9059]

I'd rather have big character updates like Super SF4 (10 new characters) or Arcade Edition (4 new characters). Less updates, more substance.

[@hurricane7727]

People still Play Base Sf4 on Ps3.

[@TyGreenGoblin]

I just don't understand how Capcom put so much good faith behind the game to then over monetize. The problem becomes most non fans will wait till the ultimate edition is on sale years down the line.

[@marcossonicracer]

to be honest this is disgusting. all these aditions should be offered free of charge, and serve as a calling card for those that still didn't buy the game. it is certainly an overinflated business model, that can even be considered an anti-consumer pratice if some legislation of certain countries are to be followed to the cold letter. the truth is that while YES, there is more content than ever before in these games nowadays,the cost of geting them is too high for it to be worthwhile, and not only the price gouging but the in game ads for DLCs can trigger psychological issues with people that are certainly problematic to say the least. they will push the envelope to the limit and will be clamped down hard by a government one of these days, and as much as i hate government intervention in these matters, it certainly is NOT unwaranted and unnacounted for, and they really had it coming if it ends up happening. *IMO* : capcom had much more money to win if they just offered these additions for free. i guarantee more people would pay the price of the game and it would cover the costs of these aditions/server maintenance for a long healthy time (5 years+). i do believe that they will get in some real hot water and big legal trouble if these pratices are pushed far enough and at that moment, all i have to say is: they had it coming for them.

[@Ichithix]

I will never buy Fighter Coins, period. But I like costumes. If I can't buy a bundle on steam for a reasonable price in real money, I'm done. The whole experience is tainted for me. After nearly 700 play time I uninstalled. I'm done short of Capcom coming back contrite, hat in hand.

[@klizzard1691]

I miss unlocking stuff without having to pay for it

[@W_smith4X4X]

Interesting perspective on this

[@mrstealcar4702]

The christmas sale base game for guilty gear costed $20. The game with all the DLC costed $74 after sale and the game had the audacity to tell me I would be saving $140 worth of DLC money if I bought the "ultimate edition". Like bruh, how is 3~4 extra characters and 2-3 new maps making the base game worth twice its price? The core gameplay loop is the same and the only thing that is enjoyable is ranked, and even then ranked is filled with problems players are complaining about. I can't possibly imagine how a game could cost 2x money by adding new characters when games like Valorant and League of legends add new characters for free of charge.

[@arrownoir]

Greed is the order of the day.

[@TR-qn1hs]

Imagine if Capcom did the following each time you buy two costumes the remaining character costumes drop by $1 in price. If you purchase half the costumes the remaining are now 1$ each. I bet you they will make a lot more money this way.

[@javiderivia4224]

Not really wales buy everything at any cost 😅

[@VorpalSw0rd]

Here’s a crazy idea I pay zero dollars cuz I paid over 100 goddamn dollars on the game so everything should be in game unlockable content

[@consciousgentile5141]

Correct

[@rainmaker6482]

Nice intro/transition🔥💯

[@Antidoxy]

Capcom needs to lower the prices for costumes 3! It's usury! Even half the price would be expensive, but THIS is just ridiculous!

[@greatestgamer00]

that oregon trail anaolgy was prety spot on with the cureent state of gaming in general. miss me with 70 dollars to low. capcom

[@TheAngelRaper]

Hardly new ground. As each game passes, it seems like the studios up the ante on what they can put a price tag on. All for DLC and add ons, but when a game is sold above normal retail value, and by the time the dlc packs are done coming out, will be almost twice the games retail value just for the core dlc content alone, then expected to pay for things like fatalities and skins too? It's not new its seriously just getting greedy

[@evalangley3985]

6$ for a costume is a joke... anyway, I deactivated all the character costume in the opponent costume options... so long for your cool costume...

[@TobiHamed]

This ended with injustice 2, I paid $100 and got all the games content till the end of the game... Acceptable, with mk11 I paid $100 and missed out on part of the story and some dlc, cos it was extra and after $100 I'm not paying any more, mk1 cost $120 at launch and I'm sure there's content I won't get cos I'm not willing to pay more

[@myretronation]

I refuse to pay for cosmetic DLCs, regardless of game genre I am willing to wait for complete editions (i.e. MK Ultimate Editions, SF V Arcade Edition) for such things

[@losttolerance]

Capcom should continue skin unlocks through WORLD TOUR 🌏 Im still grinding

[@Hillthugsta]

Thats going to be a problem for those who dont want to play or never downloaded World Tour mode.

[@GomerJ]

I considered for a moment thar Capcom's angle was that people would only want 1 or 2 costumes but I couldn't get there. First because this is only the 3rd costume option for these characters, and also because I only play a couple characters but I still would prefer to have all of them (which honestly might not be as true if there wasn't only 2 costumes per character in the base game). But to me the whole problem is solved if there's a way to earn the currency in-game. (I'm not counting the fighter pass which costs FC to unlock to begin with)

[@DavidDexterGaming]

They only release half a game intentionally so they can trickle out the rest of the full game for a price each few months.

[@MetaSynForYourSoul]

I also feel there's a separation between western fans and Japanese ones and what they expect and are willing to accept from these companies as well as western companies and newer Japanese developers ArcSys vs. The older legacy ones like Capcom, Sony, Nintendo, etc. The newer and western companies KNOW they live and die by the game and if players ain't happy, they will jump ship. So it feels like they listen and address concerns much quicker, more frequent patches and updates/engagement. Capcom on the other hand, yearly updates, where they're prob gonna sell ANOTHER updated version with all the content from previous versions for one low price. Don't even get me started on some of the other Japanese companies and their poor treatment of their players. They act like whatever they do is just fine. Sony, Nintendo, they screw us and we just take it. $30.00 more a year for PS+ premium and for what?! What value did they add, Sony pictures vault or whatever?!! That should've been there anyway, Sony!! Nintendo is even worse in some respects. They make good games, but refuse to support those game's communities! ARMS, Splatoon, even the almighty Smash BROS. community tournaments get shut down, banned, their streams pulled, all because of Nintendo and their iron fisted grip on everything associated with their games. It's such a shame to see the passion for their great games snuffed out because Nintendo won't let the communities decide what they play. You can't stream MELEE, You gotta play ULTIMATE if you wanna put on an official event and you can't have an actual prize pool bigger than ours even though by gaming esports standards our prize pool is laughable. I still recall buying SFV Champion Edition and MK11 AFTERMATH Day 1 for $20 less than getting it brand new. I get all previous DLC for 1 low price. Downside is you only get a year or 2 before the new one comes out. So i switched with Guilty Gear and said, "From now on, I'm going all in day 1 on all fighting games. Gonna get Max enjoyment out of each one." With the way companies are treating it now and looking at all the costs, plus the d dropped games (looking at you DNF Duel. I bought the first round but unless player count somehow miraculously increases, ain't getting the second season) I'm committing to at least $100 on each game, more if I like it like Strive. Some appreciation, some feeling that we as your players matter. That's all i all ask. Melty Blood has given Free DLC since the game came out. Support your older games, guys! Gives a few freebies! Colors are nice, better than nothing, but give us a free character(a good one!), give us a new play mode, fund a way to make previously "WHO CARES??!" sections of your game interesting again! That's what i wanna see. Let us try DLC characters in training before we buy them. Hell, make the game free! GBVS: Rising is supposedly doing just that, though i am buying it. Project L Whenever it comes out as well. I think that'll be a great way to get players into the traditional fighter scene. Brawlhalla is the biggest fighting game in the world, bigger prize money and player count than Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, Guilty Gear, and SMASH Bros combined and it's free to play! But the path companies are heading down with their dlc is sickening. The FGC has been abused enough, i don't wanna see us staring pay for the privilege of getting in early. Basically, we're in a situation now where economically it makes no sense to buy the fighting games day 1, it's better to wait for the inevitable compete edition and then wait for a sale for that. I got Tekken 7 Ultimate Edition with all the content for $11 normally its $100+. If you bought everything as it came out, you're talking over $200 you spent lifetime. That kind of money for a game is absurd. Back in the day, you bought a whole new game for DLC, and that is what i feel companies are ultimately trying to recreate. "How do i make incremental changes to a game, doing the bare minimum to add to or enhance the game (a few new characters, some balance move changes, etc.), and still get you to pay full new game price, thereby essentially selling you the fame game twice?" Square also entered the realm of shady practices because they remade FF7 but what was originally a single 3 disk game, is now gonna be a3 game experience (prob each with their own DLC), having you pay 3 times for what is essentially 1 game. Their selling is our games in pieces and getting 9.5/10 for it. The main dilemma: if we stop buying DLC, they stop supporting the game, so if we wanna keep playing and keep the game getting support, we gotta buy the DLC. But if you know there prob gonna be a bundle with everything attached, why not just wait a year or 2 for that? Cuz it won't make it to get an "Ultimate" edition. That's why! Anybody predicting DNF support passed the first season? I'm not, that's for sure!

[@solidsnape9557]

Atleast Ubisoft despite its controversies treats Brawlhalla better than other Ubisoft games. And Microsoft still supports Killer Instinct through a new update.

[@MetaSynForYourSoul]

@@solidsnape9557 True.

[@tiguilherman_plays]

the worst is how these outfit 3 costumes arent even that good to begin with lol

[@davidmazula8637]

I grew up playing fighting games, but now I'm a broke college student. The truth is fighting games have gotten unreasonably expensive; in order to get the full competitive experience, you have to buy in early, and purchase every dlc character. Spending this much money any time I want to play a fighting game is just ridiculous. In Mortal Kombat 9, there were four dlc characters total. Now NRS releases characters in packs of four. You can try to get by without purchasing dlc characters, but in that case have fun getting stomped every time you run into them in online matches. Properly learning a fighting game means labbing characters, but dlc characters you don't own can't be taken into practice mode.