BEWARE of… (Please buy our “TITLE” DLC to obtain the rest of the Title)

Destiny having launched just a few short weeks ago has already hit its production costs in retail games sold (that’s roughly a whopping $500 MILLION dollars!!!), the folks at Bungie and Activision must be quite content with this record setting feat. With such great news like that it’s hard to imagine that this game could possible be anything short of amazing. Or could it? Well if you base yourself off of my own review and then those of about 90% of the gaming community then you’ve come to understand that Destiny has fallen flat footed on its initial offering. It’s lead to a sever public backlash which has now recently escalated into full on rage amid a revelation that DLC locked content is already present on the disc itself. Some lucky players (thanks to an internal glitch) have been able to gain access to sealed areas of the game which are locked behind a DLC Paywall. In fact one of those areas “Kings Watch” is already populated with enemies, and a full on mini-boss!

This glitch thankfully captured on video shows several new story missions, strikes, and raid content all neatly placed on their respective world maps. It’s sparked a massive controversy which even has a speculated Bungie employee having gone to Reddit to inform the public that the iteration of Destiny we’ve received is a hollowed out shell of what was intended. Massive portions of the game from story, to factions, to locations were quarantined for DLC according to the unnamed source. Now keep in mind no one can verify if what this dude is saying is true or not, but if you’ve played Destiny for any amount of time you’ll be hard pressed to disagree with it.

As I said at the end of my review, if you’re one of those that believes the content that’s already on disc is rightfully earmarked for expansion / DLC then you’ve been delightfully brainwashed by the gaming industry’s rich and greedy. The fact that there’s fleshed out levels and a full stage set with enemies and a mini-boss has to open at least a few eyes. It certainly has mine as I fear this to be a harbinger of things come in the industry. There may come a day when we see Triple A content be delivered to us in a hollowed out state only to be refilled by its own guts at a later time via DLC / Expansion. Gone could be the days when buying a game meant you have the full game, now replaced by installment based pay to play schematics.

I’ve said it before I’ll say it again, DLC and Expansions should be an after thought in a games creation. It should only begin its formation after a games release, and seek to include community feedback and expand upon its original title further bolstering it. To preconceive DLC and Expansions during a games initial conceptualization and creation is to undermine your project from the get-go. It’s a sign of bad faith and shows an ill desire to gouge money from your customers. You know what we called DLC and Expansions in the past? Part 2! If you have content ready to go but have decided to hold it back, that’s not DLC, that’s Douche-Bag.

If you care about your leisure time and wish to make the most of it then this should be of great concern to you. A top notch publisher Activision and a Triple A studio Bungie have jumped in bed together and somehow we the gamers have been screwed. The fact that Destiny has made its production value back in its first week of release is no laughing matter. That’s a powerful message being heard across the gaming community, and you better believe that decision makers and top executives have turned their heads towards Destiny to see how things play out. Unless put into check Bungie and Activision will continue to delivery half baked mediocre content without regard. Unless put into check, the rest of the gaming industry will think this type of behaviour is acceptable and soon follow suit. Unless put into check, a game will no longer just cost $40-$70, but will turn into $100-$150 investment by the time you’re done buying what you should have received to begin with.