Hey friend! As a passionate gamer and fan of great expansions, I wanted to provide an in-depth look at what expansions are all about. From amazing additions like The Burning Crusade for World of Warcraft to microtransaction-filled disappointments, expansion packs run the gamut.
Expansions provide exciting additional content for existing games, often completely transforming the experience into almost a sequel. Let‘s delve into the world of expansions and DLCs!
Massive Game-Changing Expansions
Expansions can introduce an insane amount of new content, often doubling the size and lifespan of a game! A great example is World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade which added the entire new Outland continent, 10 new high-level zones, new races, dungeons, raids, quests, items and raised the level cap from 60 to 70. It was truly transformative!
Later expansions like Wrath of the Lich King and Mists of Pandaria took things even further by adding another 10+ zones, new abilities, classes, professions, gameplay systems, playable races, memorable villains like Lich King, thousands of new items, and extending the level cap. This pattern has repeated with each new WoW expansion, keeping the game fresh for over a decade.
The Sims is another franchise famous for its meaty expansions, like Pets which let you raise cats, dogs, birds and more. It added new needs, behaviors, clothes, furniture and completely new ways to play!
Worthy Expansions vs Glorified DLC
Not all expansions are created equal however. While WoW‘s expansions added almost entirely new games worth of content, some feel like glorified DLCs that don‘t justify the premium price tag.
The Sims 4 has drawn huge criticism for its $40 expansions only adding a few hours of gameplay each. Comparatively, The Sims 3 expansions added dozens of hours of playtime and gameplay improvements. This decrease in value has led many to accuse publishers of greedily carving out content to sell separately.
But other expansions still deliver strongly. Civilization 5‘s Brave New World expansion truly completed the base game by adding trade routes, ideologies, reworked culture, diplomacy and more. Reviews widely agreed it made Civ 5 into the game it always should have been.
The Business of Selling Expansions
From a publisher perspective, expansions have huge financial upside compared to making entirely new sequels. They cost much less to develop since the core game already exists, but with the right additions can drive strong sales from the existing player base.
World of Warcraft‘s The Burning Crusade sold a staggering 2.4 million copies in its first day, generating over $70 million in revenue. That‘s some serious profit since it reused the existing WoW game. Later expansions continued breaking company sales records, with several topping $100M in the first 24 hours!
Other hit expansions like The Sims 2: Pets added over $100 million in pure revenue, showing how lucrative expanding existing games can be.
Free vs Paid Expansions
Not all expansions require payment, such as No Man‘s Sky‘s massive content updates which have completely transformed what was once a barebones space exploration game into a packed sci-fi universe with creatures, base building, vehicles, quests and more.
Path of Exile also receives free mini-expansions every 3 months, fueled by only selling optional cosmetics. Meanwhile, paid expansions can leave players feeling nickel-and-dimed.
But free content updates usually can‘t match the scale and polish of large premium expansions with proper budgeting behind them. So it‘s a tradeoff game publishers have to weigh carefully.
The Evolution of Expansions
Back in the 90s and 2000s, expansions became a popular way to extend strategy and simulation game lifespans beyond their campaign, providing new experiences for months as players expanded their empire or city.
Previously, most additional content came in full-priced sequels every few years. Expansions changed that by offering cheaper new content between sequels, reducing dev time and costs. This model paved the way for the DLC market.
But lately expansions have declined as publishers utilize frequent DLCs and patches instead to provide a steady stream of smaller content. Whether this shift is better for players remains hotly debated.
In Conclusion
At their best, expansions can provide incredible content that transforms a great game into an all-time classic. But at worst, they can leave players feeling ripped off by meaningless DLCs parading as full expansions.
Overall, expansions represent exciting new adventures for established worlds and mechanics we know and love – if they strike the right balance between novelty and nostalgia.
Thanks for joining my deep dive into expansions! Let me know if you have any other big questions on this fascinating evolution in gaming.
