This might not be a tactic only used by Bioware, but they’re the one that use it the most notoriously as a AAA gaming developer. The original purpose of downloadable content was to add extra content to a story and milk a little extra money out of a game that’s already been released. Some DLC have been so popular that fans both desire extra content with games they finish and expect it. So when companies realize there’s a market for content to be released after the game is already out, it becomes imperative to think about during the process of making the base game.
For some players, having DLC completely removed from the main story can feel cheap and alienated from the consequences of the game, making it necessary to think about how the DLC will affect the main story. It’s fun to see the cause and effect! That’s a big reason why people like choice-based RPGs.
But the cause and effect from DLC should be minimal and optional. It should have fun, not large, consequences. If you go and destroy someone’s café, it’s funny to hear some ambient dialogue from an NPC talking about how they’re upset their favorite café was destroyed by some hooligan.
Bioware has this little tendency to make the ends of their games additional content. Mass Effect 2 had Arrival, Dragon Age 2 had The Exiled Prince, and Dragon Age Inquisition had Trespasser, each one providing massive changes and decisions that bleed into the next game. In fact, the next games don’t entirely make sense without these DLC. What used to be additional is now required for the “full experience/story.” It becomes an aggressive marketing tactic. Rather than holding back dessert for the extra charge, you buy a meal and the restaurant holds a portion of your entrée ransom.
Mass Effect: Andromeda received some criticism for not following through on the expectation of having DLC, what feels like an assured thing for all games to now plan to have. One major theory was having a ship (held back for in story technical reasons) with Quarians, Drell, and other races that weren’t large enough to need their own ship, in need of rescue.
The game didn’t receive any DLC for reasons not entirely known to the general audience. One theory was that the game never had any DLC plans, another theory was that the game didn’t make enough money to justify making DLC, and the last theory is that the majority of the Bioware team was still working on Anthem, the next IP for Bioware’s list of games. Whatever the reason is, I’m glad there wasn’t DLC for the game, as much as I wish there was.
If the Quarians and other species were DLC content, then a major part of the next game (which has been confirmed, even in an unofficial way) is optional. And holding major story content hostage is just pretty shitty.
Video Games Deconstructed 