Dragon Age DLC – A PS4 Player’s Lament

If you were lucky enough to have chosen to play Dragon Age Inquisition on the XBone or PC then you may have already downloaded, played, completed and are live streaming right now the new expansion to the Thedas universe, that was released to the beloved of Microsoft last month.

If however, like me, you had unwittingly saddled yourself to the wrong horse you may also have been a little bit put out when you found out that you were denied access to the new DLC pack and that Bioware weren’t even allowed to tell us when it might be released for other platforms thanks to an iron clad exclusivity deal with Microsoft.

Exclusivity deals suck for several reasons, a big one being that they only seem to punish the fans who have sided with the wrong faction in the great console wars. Fans who would be equally keen to spend their hard earned cash on the same day as the chosen few.

Personally, a big source of suck for me is as I have been locked out of the DLC for an indefinite period I will also have to avoid all my usual haunts such as the Dragon Age subreddit or, say, the entire gaming-themed internet for fear of stumbling across a game-ruining spoiler. I’m not the only one.

Sure, call me paranoid, but in this day and age if you’re online for any length of time interacting with others there’s a pretty good chance something you haven’t seen or even heard of is going to get spoiled. I am still not over the fact that the season 4 finale of Dexter was spoiled for me in a YouTube comment on a video about Shrek! Thanks, Obama.

Despite this fear I am certainly not any more likely to run out and buy an alternative next-gen console, another copy of the game and the new DLC. I already made my choice, Bioware. I chose Sony. So, why do you feel the need to punish me for it? That’s a rhetorical question of course, I know Bioware are Scrooge McDucking into that very reason right now.

So, it was good news last week when the embargo was finally lifted and Bioware was able to let all us ‘other platformers’ that Jaws of Hakkon, a romp through an ancient Tevinter fortress with a dark secret, will be available some time in May.

Only trouble with this is that means the DLC release will clash with the full release of the other fully immersive fantasy RPG blockbuster of this year, Witcher 3. Sadly for you Bioware, I’m not all that big on exclusivity and I will be seeing other people in May, namely Geralt of Rivia (sorry Cullen). By the time I am done there my memories of Thedas will be golden but oh so very distant.

So in the end, perhaps it is you who is losing out with exclusivity deals after all*?

If your panties are also in a bunch then Bioware’s general manager Aaryn Flynn has told Kotaku that they are all ears when it comes to feedback and aggrieved players should feel free to vote/comment/contact with their points of view. Just don’t boycott the DLC. That would be silly. That giant money pool isn’t going to fill itself.

* Yeah I know. I don’t believe it either. Duck tales! Awooo-ooo.