Downloadable content (DLC) has become an increasingly important part of the video game business. Some would argue that it's especially important for publishers to leverage DLC as a way to combat the large used games sector. By offering DLC, a game can be given "legs," since gamers might be more reluctant to sell a title if they know that some very cool content is in the digital pipeline. Furthermore, more and more publishers are beginning to offer DLC with codes only for those consumers that purchase the game new at retail.
Speaking on a conference call following the company's fiscal results, GameStop CEO Dan DeMatteo said that he doesn't think DLC has really done much to deter used game buyers. "Through our years in the used business, we have learned that the second-hand user is a value-oriented consumer... we don't believe that a $10 add-on piece of DLC is compelling to a used game buyer," he commented.
More importantly, DeMatteo believes that publishers can actually benefit from the used business by tacking on DLC for titles. "Publishers can participate in our used business by offering add-on content for the most popular used titles, creating a win-win situation for publishers, retailers and consumers," he said.
As was revealed last November, GameStop will be selling DLC for publishers right there in the store. "We believe we can convert a significant portion of our in-store traffic to digital downloads for publishers,” said COO Paul Raines at the time.
"We can market and execute DLC sales right in-store," added DeMatteo on today's call. "There's a tremendous opportunity for us to encourage software developers and publishers to create DLC because we'll be able to market it. It's very difficult to discover, find... add-on content with the tools available [currently]."
We're sure that publishers will want to take advantage of this, but it likely won't change their attitude towards the massive used games business that GameStop operates.
[Thanks to Gamasutra for the tip]
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