Okay, so you know how Deep Silver tried to pull a Capcom? Well, it didn't turn out so well. PC gamers, fiddling around and being fiddlers over at the Escapist forums, found out about the disc-locked content in Risen 2: Dark Waters. Well, the DLC was missing some sound files (a ruse used to give paying consumers the impression that there is content to download) however the sound files have appeared on torrents, and are currently available.
Take note that we don't condone piracy here at Gaming Blend, with that said the sound files can be acquired from one of the sub-domains of The Pirate Bay. If you didn't know, the main website for The Pirate Bay has been banned from all ISPs in the UK, as a result the peer-to-peer torrent site now has to circumvent the basic domain name blocks to continue to provide P2P services for users. As a result, this means that even if you're in the UK, you can still access The Pirate Bay and get the Risen 2: Dark Waters DLC sound files, which comes in three parts for each piece of DLC, for free.
I'm not encouraging anyone to download the files, but I am making it known that this is a good way to make your voice heard about not supporting disc-locked content, whether the publisher be big or small. It's a vile practice in the gaming industry that needs to come to an end immediately.
We also face another problem in the industry: not a lot of gaming websites outside of a select few are willing to take a stand against anti-consumer business practices. While video games are a booming market, pegged to soon near the $100 billion dollar annual revenue margin, it's still a consumer-driven market and as such, consumers (gamers) need to be mature enough to stand up for their consumer rights. In equal matters, gaming websites and journalists need to also do their part by informing and breaking down these matters to enlighten and educate consumers (gamers) about these kind of practices. It's a matter of the media maturing with the revenue.
Unfortunately, outside of a few sources including Ripten, VentureBeat, especially Forbes and on occasion, Destructiod, we don't have the thousands of gaming websites out there using the internet platform to educate their readers about vile tactics such as day-one DLC and disc-locked content the way they could. In fact, how many reviews for Risen 2 even mention the DLC?
While I don't expect IGN to suddenly turn pro-consumerist, we do have enough gaming blogs, bloggers and writing enthusiasts covering the video game market to make a difference. Consumers can only know about disc-locked content if they're informed about it and the dangerous slope this leads to with future releases and on-disc DLC campaigns.
You can learn more about some tricky gaming industry insight with the Top Misconceptions about the Gaming Industry.
As for Risen 2: Dark Waters, take note that while PC gamers can access the DLC and the sound files for free, it may not be such a walk in the park for console gamers this summer, when Risen 2 releases for the Xbox 360 and PS3. For the most part, we're all awaiting Deep Silver's response as to whether or not the disc-locked content will be included in the game as part of the $60 package or stripped and sold later.
