On Pricing Models (Destiny)

by Ragashingo , Official DBO Cryptarch, Monday, June 29, 2015, 13:30 (3434 days ago) @ Avateur
edited by Ragashingo, Monday, June 29, 2015, 14:06

I got to thinking about pricing models this morning and did some comparisons:

Halo 3 - Released Sept 25, 2007 - Base Price ~$60
Heroic Map Pack (3 maps) - Released December 11, 2007 (~3 months later) - Initial Price ~$10.00
Legendary Map Pack (3 Maps + Forge Filters) - Released April 15, 2008 (~4 months later) - Initial Price ~$10.00
Mythic Map Pack I (3 Maps) - Released With Halo Wars March 3rd, Standalone April 9, 2009 (~1 year later) - Initial Price ~$10.00
Mythic Map Pack II (3 Maps) - Released with ODST Sept 22nd, 2009 or Standalone Feb 2, 2010 (~10 months later) - ~$10.00

Halo Reach - Released Sept 14, 2010 - Base Price ~$60
Noble Map Pack (3 maps) - Released Nov 30, 2010 (~2 months later) - Initial Price ~$10.00
Defiant Map Pack (3 maps) - Released March 15, 2011(~4 months later) - Initial Price ~$10.00
Anniversary Map Pack (6 maps( - Released Nov 15, 2011 (~8 months later) - Initial Price ~$15.00

Destiny - Released Sept 9, 2014 - Base Price ~$60
The Dark Below - Released Dec 9, 2014 (~3 months later) - Initial Price ~$20 ($15 if bought together)
House of Wolves - Released May 19, 2015 (~5 months later) - Initial Price ~$20 ($15 if bought together)
The Taken King - Sept 15, 2015 (~4 months later) - Initial Price ~$40 ($60 with all in-game content included)

As it stands now, you would have paid something around $100 for all of Destiny's DLC all of which was released within eight months of launch. That $100 would include the base game, six new Crucible maps, multiple new story missions and quests, a pair of new strikes, a new raid, and a new game type (PoE) and something like 30 smaller patches that included everything from minor bug fixes to balance changes to new features like expanded voice chat or color blind options. In that same eight month time period following the release of either Halo 3 or Reach you would have paid around $80, gotten six new multiplayer maps, no new single player content, and only a few bug fixes for Halo 3.

It would appear to me that Destiny's DLC isn't that badly priced when compared to the past Halo map packs, and Destiny as a whole is actually very fairly priced so far when considering the far greater amount of post launch support Bungie has done vs any of the Halo games. Yes, the $20 for the shaders, emotes, and class items is high, but there is also significant context to that price that deserves to be considered. The Taken King is unlike any DLC Halo ever had, adding in what seems to be a significant amount of new content of every flavor for a price that seems fairly comparable to that of Halo's map packs.

I guess I'm just not seeing how your cynical, sarcastic hilarity makes any sense anymore as it does not appear Destiny's DLC is priced significantly out of line with regards to what Halo DLC map packs sold for. I suppose you could make the case that all modern Bungie DLC has been overpriced, but in my opinion that's about the only leg you'd have to stand on upon a closer look at the facts.