Paradox Interactive wants to give players access to DLC by subscription. The service will be tested on Europa Universalis IV players.Europa Universalis IV
The Swedish publisher told about his experiments with the subscription on the official forum.
Testing takes place in closed mode. A small group of players will be able to subscribe Europa Universalis IV. Their feedback will make the model more efficient, writes Gamesindustry.biz .
The cost of such a subscription is unknown: it will be determined after testing. And, in general, Paradox does not disclose how the innovation will work. But he stresses:
- subscription will not be mandatory;
- it will not replace other ways of distributing DLC;
- no add-on will be exclusive to subscribers. All players will still have the opportunity to get content in one way or another.
The publisher came to the idea of a subscription because of criticism from gamers. They didn’t like that Paradox was releasing too many add-ons to games (Crusader Kings 2, for example). Their number and total cost disorient new players. In some cases, the total DLC price tag for one game can reach $300. For the same Europa Universalis IV, more than 15 DLC (not counting cosmetic packs) worth over $ 80 were released.
Note that in the past, the company’s management defended its approach to the release of add-ons. But, judging by the statement on the forum, the opinion of the players ultimately outweighed.
Paradox Interactive is primarily known as a publisher of global strategies. In the coming years, she plans to release more and more new games. To this end, it actively acquires studios (Triumph Studios, Harebrained Schemes, White Wolf Publishing, etc.).
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