downloadable content downloadable content dlc is additional content created for a released video game it is distributed through the internet by the games official publisher downloadable content can be of several types ranging from aesthetic outfit changes to a new extensive storyline similar to an expansion pack as such dlc may add new game modes objects levels challenges or other features to a complete alreadyreleased game it is a form of video game monetization enabling a publisher to gain additional revenue from a title after it has been purchased by offering dlc at low costs frequently using a type of microtransaction system for payment in the case of episodic video games a new episode may come in the form of downloadable content whereas music video games utilize this media to offer new songs for the players downloadable content became prevalent in the 21st century and especially with the proliferation of internetenabled sixthgeneration video game consoles special edition or game of the year rereleases of games often incorporate previously released dlc along with the main title in a physical package history precursors to dlc see also digital distribution in video games the earliest form of downloadable content were offerings of full games such as on the atari 2600s gameline service which allowed users to download games using a telephone line a similar service sega channel allowed for the downloading of games to the sega genesis over a cable line while the gameline and sega channel services allowed for the distribution of entire titles they did not provide downloadable content for existing titles on personal computers as the popularity and speed of internet connections rose so did the popularity of using the internet for digital distribution of media usercreated game mods and maps were distributed exclusively online as they were mainly created by people without the infrastructure capable of distributing the content through physical media in 1997 cavedog offered for their realtime strategy computer game total annihilation free downloadable additional created content a new unit every month on consoles the dreamcast was the first console to feature online support as a standard dlc was available though limited in size due to the narrowband connection and the size limitations of a memory card these online features were still considered a breakthrough in video games but the competing playstation 2 did not ship with a builtin network adapter with the advent of the xbox microsoft was the second company to implement downloadable content many original xbox live titles including splinter cell halo 2 and ninja gaiden offered varying amounts of extra content available for download through the xbox live service most of this content with the notable exception of content for microsoftpublished titles was available for free with the xbox 360 introduction in 2005 microsoft integrated downloadable content more fully into their console devoting an entire section of the consoles user interface to the xbox live marketplace microsoft believed that publishers would benefit by offering small pieces of content at a small cost 1 to 5 rather than full expansion packs 20 as this would allow players to pick and chose what content they desired providing revenue to the publishers they also partially removed the need for credit cards by implementing their own microsoft points currency which could be bought either with a credit card online or as redeemable codes in game stores to avoid the banking fees associated with the small price points this is a strategy that would be adopted by nintendo with nintendo points and sony with the playstation network card one of the most infamous examples of dlc on consoles was the horse armor dlc package released on the xbox live marketplace in 2006 for the bethesda softworks game the elder scrolls iv oblivion that fans criticized as useless and overpriced sony adopted the same approach with their downloadable hub the playstation store with gran turismo hd sony planned an entirely barebones title with the idea of requiring the bulk of the content to be purchased separately via many separate online microtransactions the project was later canceled nintendo has featured a sparser amount of downloadable content on their wii shop channel the bulk of which is accounted for by digital distribution of emulated nintendo titles from previous generations music video games such as titles from the guitar hero and rock band franchises have taken significant advantage of downloadable content harmonix claimed that guitar hero ii would feature more online content than anyone has ever seen in a game to this date on handhelds nokia phones of the late 1990s and early 2000s shipped with sidescrolling shooter space impact available on various models with the introduction of wap in 2000 additional downloadable content for the game with extra levels became available through use of the nintendo wifi connection users can download dlc to the nintendo ds handheld for certain games a good example is picross ds in which users can download puzzle packs of classic puzzles from previous picross games such as marios picross similarly moero nekketsu rhythm damashii osu tatakae ouendan 2 had hidden costumes that were unlocked using ds download stations for a limited time due to the nintendo dss use of cartridges and lack of a hard drive there is limited space for dlc and developers would have to plan for storage space on the cartridge picross ds itself only has room for ten puzzle packs and professor laytons and ouendan 2s dlc is already on the cartridge and is simply unlocked with a weekly code the nintendo dss downloadable content is distinct as it is currently being offered at no cost however the nintendo dsi contains a shop similar to that of the wii that contains games and applications most of which must be bought using nintendo points it is also worth noting that using the wiis nintendo channel various ds files such as game demos and videos can be downloaded onto the wii console and transferred via wireless to a dsi handheld the nintendo 3ds supports downloadable content as of update 4007u the first title to support it being theatrhythm final fantasy in the form of extra songs other games to support dlc quickly followed such as fire emblem awakening and super smash bros for nintendo 3ds starting with apples iphone os version 30 release and apples iphone 4 downloadable content became available for the platform via applications bought from the app store while this ability was initially only available to developers for paid applications apple eventually allowed for developers to offer this in free applications as well in october 2009 controversy there have been several dlc controversies as the practice has become more common one such controversy was when bioware and electronic arts released mass effect 3 along with the dlc from ashes many in the gaming community felt that they were cheated by bioware and electronic arts many thought that bioware upon completing game development decided to remove a portion of the game that would eventually become from ashes pricing pricing for downloadable content generally varies from free to 20 in addition to individual content downloads video game publishers sometimes offer a season pass which allows users to preorder a selection of upcoming content over a specific time period and ensuring the customers ability to immediately obtain the content upon release while a season pass is often a way to get a discount when compared to purchasing each dlc individually critics argue that you are essentially paying upfront for something that you dont know what it will be downloadable content can also be included in a game purchase such as with preorder bonuses or bundled into rereleases of the full game often branded as a game of the year edition or similar certain items are provided for free providing free dlc can also provide revenue for game companies at the expense of users convenience for example naruto ultimate ninja storm for the playstation 3 was shipped with certain features disabled however users can freely download packs to re enable the missing content from the playstation store consequently users are exposed to advertisements and potential purchases there is also the additional marketing benefit that users may believe that there is continuing support for the product if there is an apparent flow of such patches where a normal software disc may allow its license sold or traded dlc is generally locked to a specific users account and does not come with the ability to transfer that license to another user for instance nontransferable dlcs were used in eas project ten dollars as mechanism to fight the used games market microsoft has been known to require developers to charge for their content when the developers would rather release their content for free as of 2010 the sale of dlc makes up around 20 of video games sales a substantial portion of a developers profit margin developers are beginning to use the sale of dlc for an already successful game series to fund the development of new ips or sequels to existing games availability while some content is delivered exclusively through online services other extra content may already be on the game disc extra content on a game disc is inaccessible until it is unlocked by an online service named disclocked content publishers may also choose to rerelease certain titles with previously available downloadable content bundled there is also criticism concerning the exclusivity of downloadable contents as some of these contents are frequently added to new disc version of the game buyers of the resident evil 5 gold edition would have access to contents previously exclusives as downloadable content without having to pay any extra fee there have also been cases where dlcs were intended to be part of the main game but they were later stripped out of it in order to be sold as a separate feature tomb raider underworld has been criticized for providing two dlcs exclusive to the xbox 360 that were supposedly removed from the original game in other media while video games are the origins of downloadable content with movies books and music also becoming more popular in the digital sphere experimental dlc has also been attempted amazons kindle service for example allows updating ebooks which allows authors to not only update and correct work but also add content vtevideo game monetization battle pass downloadable content freetoplay freemium games as a service loot box gacha games microtransactions season pass skin gambling 