Is Dragon Age’s Lack of DLC a Good Thing?

Bioware’s latest Dragon Age is out, and it’s good. Critics have called it a return to form for a series that’s lacked form for a long time. It won’t be getting DLC. Is this a good thing?

I’ve seen all the celebrating that The Veilguard won’t get DLC. I’ve seen the five word paragraphs that celebrate the return to a day where a good game could exist in isolation. Buy it full price, finish it, move on. Gone are those days.

Confirmation that it won’t get any downloadable content came from Rolling Stone. Attentions will instead switch to the next Mass Effect game. That’s not a bad thing either. Now that games take most of a decade to make, distractions aren’t exactly welcome. In an ideal world? Yeah, we’d get both. But realistically, if it’s a choice of one or the other, the next big game should be the focus.

But here’s the thing: after years of gamers fighting against DLC practises, the publishers won. Today, having the option to jump back into new adventures in our favourite games isn’t just wanted, it’s expected. When I finished Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth, my first thought was what content would be coming next. Remake got the Yuffie DLC and a remaster of Crisis Core. What wonderful Final Fantasy VII themed content will I be able to buy next?

Dragon Age is a huge game. It’s a huge, critically acclaimed game. People want more. They’re not going to get it.

It’s not the first major RPG to avoid adding additional content in this way. Baldur’s Gate didn’t get DLC either. Its director, Swen Vincke, said the work wasn’t coming from the heart. Making the DLC, he said, was just going through the motions.

Dragon Age: DLC or No?

It’s not an unheard of for DLC to be underwhelming. I know, controversial as it is to say it.

For every piece of content that builds on the original game, there are ten that add nothing serious to the experience. It’s usually just “more” in as basic a way as possible. DLC done well is something special. The Yuffie DLC showed us much of what we could expect from Rebirth. Control and Alan Wake II both had popular DLC that built on their worlds.

That’s when it’s done well. DLC shouldn’t just be phoned in. We entitled gamers might struggle with that idea.

Ultimately, the old adage of leaving them wanting more seems to make sense. We’re so used to getting everything we want as quickly as possible – often in as little as a single click. Perhaps not getting more Dragon Age is a good thing.

It highlights, once again, how long so many games take to make, and it would be nice to find a fix for that. Maybe next generation we can get two Dragon Age games. But for now, enjoy the game. It’s not a treadmill of content, nor should it be.