30 years ago nobody knew what an update was in the world of videogames because at that time that concept was technically unfeasible. Especially when we talk about releases on cartridges and consoles without any storage capacity. So it could hardly be contemplated that a programmer would continue working on its development once it was put up for sale. Updating a video game, what is that?
Has anyone talked about the elephant in the room?
The fact is that a few days ago a Japanese programmer appeared and turned the world a little more upside down by putting on the table an idea that players will certainly not like. As it is to start charging for the updates that a video game receives. And we are not referring to the season passes, DLC or downloadable content, but to the updates that correct errors, etc.
Indeed, surely from what you have read you have thought the same as us. What do we have to pay for to correct errors that the development studio itself has made and that this game has become an unfinished product that we have paid in advance so that it works correctly? Well yes, that’s what Hidetaka Suehiro, responsible for titles like Deadly Premonition or D4 Dark Dreams Don’t Die , among others, was referring to.
Specifically, the Japanese came to say in a message on Twitter that “Please tell me why developers who work extra hours every day to create video games should offer updates at no cost ? Everyone pays 10 dollars for a cup of coffee in Starbucks…is the world going crazy?
Hidetaka SWERY SueHERO@Swery65Please tell me why we creators, who work overtime every day to make video games, should have to update our games for free.
You all pay $10 for a cup of coffee at Starbucks….
Is the world going crazy????#TheGoodLife #DLC https://t.co/J8I0L9NxHI
February 22, 2023 • 11:49 AM944
942
Would you pay to update your games?
As we tell you, what Suehiro is talking about is asking for the work of an update to be paid , but here it is obvious that we would have to make distinctions. Is it an update for a video game that fixes bugs that shouldn’t be there, or are they features that are express requests from the community that want a few things added? If we move within the first assumption, it is obvious that it does not seem reasonable to charge us extra for a job that would have to be perfect from the first day, although if we refer to the second, then the same thing does have some reason to complain bitterly .
Be that as it may, the fact that someone in the sector launches this idea may be a sign that many other studies are talking about the same thing and when the rumor turns into a current of opinion, it is time to start trembling. Today it does not seem that anyone in their right mind is going to opt for something like this, but it is enough for a large franchise –of those that generate hundreds of millions of profits every year– to take a step in that direction for the rest to go behind.
At the moment it is just an idea and it received a response from a user, specifically, referring to a release by Suehiro himself: “It is reasonable to update the game after launching it if it is not finished. Deadly Premonition needed an update after its release on PC to be able to play on recent hardware. People will just stop buying if the game becomes unplayable due to major changes.” Well that.
Would you pay for an upgrade?