Batman & Catman

So, Batman : Arkham City is finally out. Everyone is playing it, everyone is loving it, and a lot of people seem to be talking about Catwoman.

Some people are talking about the differences that playing as Catwoman brings to the game, some are talking about the fine job that the rocksteady artists have done to capture her ‘assets’, and then there are those that are talking about it being DLC.

There was confusion around the release of the game that the Catwoman content was actually going to be DLC content, rather than just…oh, I dunno, part of the game like rocksteady had been saying for ages. It seemed that weeks prior to release they quietly let us know that you get the Catwoman content for free if you buy the game during the initial release window, whilst later adopters would have to pay for the privilege. Judging by how much time rocksteady had spent discussing catwoman’s inclusions in the new game prior to release, I’m guessing they were pretty surprised when they got that call from WB.

On the most recent Weekend Confirmed podcast, Garnett Lee has spoken out about how he felt that it’s a shitty deal for customers, and it kind of is. But it’s a good deal for WB, who will make a ton of money. How much that will rocksteady get? No one really knows, but judging by the fact that the Catwoman DLC actually integrates really nicely with the story, I’m guessing that they’ve already received a nice cheque for the hassle of REMOVING THE CONTENT FROM THE GAME.

This is nothing new though, this is just the ‘online pass’ for games that don’t have online pay. And whilst Garnett Lee can talk about how shitty this deal is for gamers one week, but talk about how games need to combat second hand retail the next, then he’s kind of contradicting himself. And if we are worrying about how much money rocksteady will get, then this aggressive strategy might just help in the long run.