PS3 News: Just Cause 2 Dev Speaks Out Against DLC And "Forced Multiplayer" - PS3 News

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Just Cause 2 Dev Speaks Out Against DLC And "Forced Multiplayer"

I've been saying this the entire generation, but I always thought I was just in the crazy old-fashioned aging minority.

Well, maybe I still am. But Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios does agree; studio boss Christofer Sundberg told Eurogamer that downloadable content and forced multiplayer are getting a little tired.

Sundberg said game makers "run around as headless chickens" attempting to make more money from DLC, and he says this really isn't necessary if the game is good:

"DLC is not needed to keep players engaged if the game is well executed. We create a game allowing players to properly explore and have fun and not focusing so much on the actual end goal of the game. As most publishers and developers have run around as headless chickens the last three years looking for a way to make money DLC was definitively a tool to try to keep players engaged, but how many games have been truly successful with DLC? Not that many."

He admitted that the DLC his team released for Just Cause 2 was "standard stuff" and didn't really keep players players. Only the game itself kept gamers hooked for the long haul, and they didn't need multiplayer, either. Added Sundberg:

"The big thing now is to force multiplayer into games that are really single-player games just to combat second hand sales and that makes absolutely no sense as it just consumes budget and does not add any value except on the back of the box."

Returning to DLC for a moment, he goes a step further and says that thus far, he's just "paid for the crap that developers decided to cut because they didn't have the time to get it into the game." As for Just Cause 2, the game remains pretty popular; in March 2012 (two years after the game's launch), the title saw 100,000 new unique players each week, clocking a grand total of over 200 hours of game time.

So yeah, extra content and multiplayer aren't the be-all, end-all. I knew it all along, damnit.

Related Game(s): Just Cause 2

Tags: just cause 2, avalanche studios, game dlc, multiplayer, gaming industry

7/26/2012 10:13:32 AM Ben Dutka

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Comments (27 posts)

Highlander
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 10:35:26 AM
Reply

They're not the only ones tired of forced multi-player... I have no problem with online aspect of games like leader boards and such. Co-op challenges and head to head are great additions to a game, but they are all - in my opinion - optional add-ons. Not a part of the core experience. There are games that lend themselves to online play better than others, but that still doesn't mean multi-player should be a default option or forced on the player.

Agree with this comment 6 up, 0 down Disagree with this comment

Beamboom
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 2:50:26 PM

You know, since I tend to disagree with you so often I just wanted to use this opportunity to underline that I agree with all you say here. :)


Last edited by Beamboom on 7/26/2012 2:50:52 PM

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Highlander
Friday, July 27, 2012 @ 10:46:31 AM

Yeah, but Beamboom, the thing is, we have disagreed so very many times, and agreed a whole lot too. yet despite those disagreements, and even crossed words (shock, horror, passionate people disagreed and got annoyed with each other...) we still reply back and forth. Heck, I've even been known to apologize for cross words as well. I guess we're just two sides of the same coin... ;)

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Beamboom
Friday, July 27, 2012 @ 2:17:00 PM

Yup ;)

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kraygen
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 10:53:17 AM
Reply

Glad to hear that from them. Just Cause 2 was one of the most fun games I've played this generation and I'm looking forward to Just Cause 3, even more so now that I know they feel the same about MP as me.

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MeXiCaNFiGhTe12
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 11:21:12 AM
Reply

Wait didn't they also release DLC?

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LaasYaNir
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 12:00:59 PM

Wait...didn't you read the article?

Agree with this comment 8 up, 2 down Disagree with this comment

Beamboom
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 11:30:53 AM
Reply

Ironically, Just Cause 2 is probably the game I've missed coop play the most. It would have been just perfect for it.

Last edited by Beamboom on 7/26/2012 11:31:44 AM

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firesoul453
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 11:43:13 AM

Yes for sure!

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 11:47:54 AM

Yes, but I think you think that about EVERY game. ;)

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Beamboom
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 2:28:18 PM

LOL! Well... Yeah, maybe. ;)

But all those crazy stunts you could do in there, just imagine what you could come up with if you were two! Yup - a perfect frame for coop gaming that is. :)

Last edited by Beamboom on 7/26/2012 2:34:28 PM

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 3:03:39 PM

For some reason, I thought JC2 supported co-op but I'm obviously thinking of another game. I don't remember it very well.
Last edited by Ben Dutka PSXE on 7/26/2012 3:04:00 PM

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Beamboom
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 3:21:18 PM

You may think of Mercenaries 2, perhaps? That game had campaign coop and a very similar setting and atmosphere.
Just Cause 2 is a much better game though.

Last edited by Beamboom on 7/26/2012 3:21:50 PM

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Ben Dutka PSXE [Administrator]
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 4:52:10 PM

It may have been Mercs2. I actually liked those games and couldn't get into either Just Cause...not really sure why, though.

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Beamboom
Friday, July 27, 2012 @ 1:24:19 AM

Funny you say that, cause I experienced much the same, but I thought it was because it lacked coop! Man, that was an interesting observation.

The main issue I got with mercs2 was a horribly buggy network code. It simply was pure random if we were able to connect to each other or not, and how long we stayed connected.

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firesoul453
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 11:42:53 AM
Reply

I agree sooo much I can't even say it!

I could make a list a mile long on games that they shouldn't have bothered to make multiplayer for! (And instead made more singleplayer

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cLoudou
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 12:35:37 PM
Reply

Yes! Yes! Yes! Yes!

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Temjin001
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 2:33:27 PM
Reply

I'm happy GoWIV has multi-player. I think action games that are made to be action games can usually be done as multiplayer without it seeming like something shoe horned in.

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Rogueagent01
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 3:17:22 PM
Reply

I do like the comments from the Dev. If you need DLC to keep the gamers in your game you did something wrong when you made the game. DLC is fine so long as it doesn't involve the end of the game and also isn't made simply to keep gamers interested. Make your game longer than 10 hours and you'd be suprised how much time people could/would invest in a game, plus don't use a cookie cutter system within a game as it tends to bore many people to the point in which they put it down. Simply put be creative and make sure the game isn't to short.

And the multiplayer part is iffy to me. Some games lend themselves to it while others should never have it. So in that sense you have to look at each individual game before making a comment on it. You cannot make a blanket comment about multiplayer without looking like a fool.

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xenris
Saturday, July 28, 2012 @ 5:58:58 PM

I agree. I remember when games on the PSX kept me busy for hundreds of hours and NOT just the RPGs.

I would replay games if they were fun, or try harder difficulties etc. Lots of games used to have built in rewards too. For example unlocking costumes for beating a certain difficulty mode.

All that stuff now is taken out of the game and sold to you as DLC. Pretty ridiculous if you ask me. Make a good game and people will play it simple as that. You also have to market it a little though ;)

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EMax
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 4:31:16 PM
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The business model that present day video game companies seem to adopt (not all) is to put $$ as their top priority. The ugly part of DLC for me is the practice of charging for cosmetic items. I remember playing spider-man and several fighting games on ps2 where i unlocked costumes for completing certain tasks. Now, in some games, if you want to see what the alternative costume looks like even if somone else is playing the character you still have to pay for it. I have spent many nights trying to wrap my head around it. Doesn't seem to be getting any clearer for me though.

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crunchy_nut_kid
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 6:48:31 PM
Reply

i whole heartedly agree. Then again, i regard coop in a different catagory than multiplayer. admit it guys, wouldn't just cause with 2 person or 4 person coop be the best thing ever?

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MrAnonymity
Thursday, July 26, 2012 @ 9:00:12 PM
Reply

I adored JC2s DLC - in that it was completely not essential to the game.

... well...

I will admit that the parachute thruster was a ****ing beautiful addition.

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___________
Friday, July 27, 2012 @ 7:54:42 AM
Reply

hes right about MP, but not about DLC.
allot of games have added DLC that has added so much to the game!
bioshock, mass effect, batman arkham city, mafia, fallout, portal, deus ex, skyrim, BF, COD, just to name a few.
than you could go even further and throw in all the mods made for PC games, there like DLC too.
JC2 was always such a fun game, but add a trainer and mod support and its one of the biggest laughs out there!

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wackazoa
Friday, July 27, 2012 @ 9:47:39 AM
Reply

I feel that DLC should be used to do sequels to game as opposed to a new game. Or to bridge the gap that sometimes takes place between games... storywise. I agree that its not necessary to make the game better. Thats just lazy developing.

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Gravelight
Sunday, July 29, 2012 @ 9:12:17 PM
Reply

My thoughts exactly.

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drooleybob
Wednesday, August 01, 2012 @ 3:04:36 PM
Reply

DLC such as bonus maps or extended missions is fine sometimes but it can extremely frustrating if it is intertwined with the main story. Take Mass Effect for instance. I must admit here that I'm new to this generation of gaming and pretty much an old school gamer who always had known retail games that assured the complete experience. Now I hadn't downloaded any DLC for ME2 and of course it ultimately affected the ending you get. I lost almost all my comrades in ME2 and had the choice of only 2 endings in part 3 (and I'm a guy who always finishes off all the side missions and obtains all upgrades before taking the final mission). When a game is delightfully played mainly because of its nature to provide a really good emotional response in the player,this DLC business that influences the story arc - I find to be really really annoying. And of course the general feeling that you never get the full experience when you purchase the disk for the game.
Last edited by drooleybob on 8/1/2012 3:07:06 PM

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