Does the rise of 'expandalone' games mean the end for big DLC?
Dying Light: The Beast is a new game from Techland that, originally, was destined to be DLC for Dying Light 2.
It's a familiar story. Last year's Assassin's Creed Mirage from Ubisoft was originally conceived as an expansion for Assassin's Creed Valhalla, before becoming its own, shorter standalone game. The most recent Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 3, according to reports, was initially planned as an expansion for Modern Warfare 2 before, again, it was reimagined as a separate game.
The idea of a shorter 'semi-sequels', or 'expandalone' games, is nothing remotely new. It's the idea of taking the work done on a previous title – such as the assets and structure – and building something new out of it. And this approach has led to some truly iconic games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City, Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon and Fallout: New Vegas.
