Nintendo’s baby-steps into the world of downloadable content with New Super Mario Bros. 2 Coin Rush packs have raised questions about how far the company intends to push their new DLC business plans. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has addressed those concerns, revealing that paid DLC will be determined on a game by game basis and certain titles like in Animal Crossing: New Leaf will not include any.
The good news came out of a new financial Q&A, in which Iwata noted that if Animal Cross: New Leaf were to include paid DLC it would negatively impact gameplay to the point where he would consider it “unwholesome”. Iwata stated that he talked to the development team about the idea several times, and concluded “That sort of element [paid DLC] is absolutely not being added.”
Animal Crossing‘s collect-a-thon nature certainly provides the opportunity for paid DLC (Lord knows there have been countless times in past AC titles where I would have paid money to complete some random set of furniture), but I’m glad that Nintendo realizes that even having that option in this type of title risks breaking the fundamentals of the game.
Last August Iwata stated that the company will not “cheat or deceive” customers with their DLC offerings, and this Animal Crossing: New Leaf announcement seems to indicate that he is keeping his word on that promise.
Source: Kotaku
