It can either be added for no extra cost or it can be a form of video game monetization,[1] enabling the publisher to gain additional revenue from a title after it has been purchased, often using some type of microtransaction system.
Furthermore, this led to the creation of the oxymoronic term "on-disc DLC" for content included on the game's original files but locked behind a paywall.
Music video games, such as titles from the Guitar Hero and Rock Band franchises, took significant advantage of downloadable content as a means of offering new songs to be played in-game.
Harmonix claimed that Guitar Hero II would feature "more online content than anyone has ever seen in a game to this date.
In 1997, Cavedog offered a new unit every month as free downloadable content for their real-time strategy computer game Total Annihilation.
[1][11] Later PC digital distribution platforms, such as Games for Windows Marketplace and Steam would add support for DLC in a similar manner to consoles.
[12] Nokia phones of the late 1990s and early 2000s shipped with side-scrolling shooter Space Impact, available on various models.
[16] Starting with iPhone OS 3, downloadable content became available for the platform via applications bought from the App Store.
[20] This practice has sometimes been considered controversial, with publishers being accused of using what is effectively a microtransaction to lock access to content that was already contained within the game as sold at retail.
[21][19][22] Data relating to future DLC may be included on-disc or downloaded during updates for technical reasons as well, either to ensure online multiplayer compatibility for existing content between players who have not yet purchased the new DLC,[23][24] or as dormant support code for planned content that is still in development at the time of the release.
Since Facebook games popularized the business model of microtransactions,[26] some have criticized downloadable content as being overpriced and an incentive for developers to leave items out of the initial release, with The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion's horse armor DLC having faced a mixed reception upon its release for that reason.
In multiplayer games, season passes may also segregate the player base if it is the primary means of receiving gameplay content such as maps.
[43][44] There have also been cases where DLCs were intended to be part of the main game, but they were later stripped out of it in order to be sold as a separate feature.
Tomb Raider: Underworld has been criticized for providing two DLCs, exclusive to the Xbox 360, that were supposedly removed from the original game.
"[47] While video games are the origins of downloadable content, with movies, books and music also becoming more popular in the digital sphere, experimental DLC has also been attempted.