CK3 devs are being passive-aggressively criticized for announcing new DLCs
Paradox Interactive studio announced more DLCs for Crusader Kings 3. The expansions, however, received a cool reception and stirred up discussion anew about the strategy masters' release policy.
Devs from Paradox Interactive studio have long been considered masters of strategy, and their games, such as Crusader Kings 3, enjoy popularity. At the same time, the company's current publishing policy regarding DLC may cause considerable controversy. The latest announcement of two small expansions to Crusader Kings 3 was met with an exceptionally skeptical reception from fans on Steam and Reddit.
Expensive pleasure
For context: since the release of Crusader Kings 3, Paradox Interactive has been releasing an average of four DLCs per year. Big expansions usually cost $29.99 (the price of the base version of the game is $49.99), and the smaller ones - which in the past have been dubbed "cut out" from the preceding larger expansion - are an expense of around $4.99. What's worse is that Paradox sells these so-called smaller DLCs at the same price. Content Creator Packs, co-created by the modding community.
This means that to buy Crusader Kings 3 and all its small and large expansions, you have to pay nearly 200 bucks without a discount - exactly $170 on Steam.
Reaction to new Creator Packs for CK3
Paradox recently announced two new Content Creator Packs for Crusader Kings 3, which will be released on February 25th.
- "Monuments" set - will introduce, among others, 20 new buildings. Each of them will provide special bonuses for the county in which it is located. In the base game, Stonehenge was included, and now additions will feature, among others, Wartburg, the Great Mosque of Damascus, and a palace in Ghana (similar to wonders in Civilization 7).
- "Arctic Attire Pack" - a cosmetic add-on introducing new outfits for Finnish tribes (and 1 additional track - Saami folk song).
The price hasn't yet been revealed, but everything indicates that it will again be $4.99 for each package separately.
Players on Steam have started massively posting one sarcastic comment (there were also opinions like "are we going to pay for mods every month?"):
Thanks, really appreciate that you are offering it for free.
Of course, this is intentional irony - everyone knows that this package will come with a cost. In this way, fans once again express their dissatisfaction and emphasize that such cosmetic additions should be free or at least included in the season pass.
Paradox responded to the above "accusations," informing that the prices of DLCs will remain unchanged, and additional paid cosmetic sets are a way to "support the developers" of this content.
Excessive split with negative impact on the game
The CK3 community gathered on Reddit also doesn't give up - the recent announcement of the next DLCs by Paradox caused quite a storm on the forum.
In the comments, some mentioned that besides being an "expensive pleasure" to keep up with the expansions, this publishing policy doesn't positively impact the game itself. As the user with the nickname ProblemSavings8686 noted, the problem of content fragmentation negatively affects the consistency of the game:
Grand strategy is more grand when everything affects everything else. Lots of these mechanics and additions feel too separated being packaged as standalone DLCs that they have to stand alone as part of the DLC and then other DLCs can’t build or rely upon their content.
Paradox's policy regarding DLC has long been controversial, but the latest wave of criticism suggests that the company may have an increasingly difficult time keeping its fans happy. For now, many people are still playing CK3 - around 23,000 during the peak. The patience of the company's strategy fans may, however, eventually run out.
- Crusader Kings 3 - game guide
- Review – Crusader Kings 3 is a Game without Competition
- Crusader Kings 3 on Steam
