Space Age DLC is a Cash Grab - It Should’ve Been a Standalone Game

[AkQ]

Alright, I have to say it: Space Age being a DLC is absurd. Ten years later, we’re handed this massive expansion that’s practically a new game in itself—new planets, space travel, tons of content that easily outscales the base game—and they slap on a purple DLC ribbon like it's a minor update. I mean, really? What on earth (or space) justifies this as a DLC instead of a true standalone Factorio 2?

There’s zero logical reason for this move except to cash in on existing owners, forcing everyone to buy the original game just to play the expansion. When I saw it on Steam, I nearly laughed out loud at how blatant it is. A sequel is expected to bring fresh gameplay, sure, but Factorio is unique. It’s a fully completed game, not some subscription-based service or MMO. And now they want us to treat this 10-year-later update like a small add-on?

Honestly, calling this pure evil feels fair. They’ve created a whole new experience, loaded it with content, yet we’re supposed to pay for the base game just to access it. The space update alone has more to offer than the original Factorio. It’s obvious they’re trying to squeeze extra out of fans who have already supported the game over the years, making us buy the DLC with full price to access what should have been a fresh title.

The whole setup screams cash grab. If they had just released Space Age as Factorio 2, it would make sense, be respectful to the fanbase, and attract even more players. As it stands, it’s frustrating and just plain disappointing.

[1WheelDude]

Listen buddy, if they made this its own standalone game, how could I accumulate more hours on the game itself? I want to show all the other nerds the total amount of hours I've spent on Factorio. Having to show hours on two different games doesn't show my addiction!

[Kyralessa]

I paid $20 for Factorio eight years ago and I've played for thousands of hours.

If it were a cash grab, I don't have a problem with it. $55 bucks total (or even $70 total at current prices for both) is still a far better cash-to-entertainment ratio than I get from renting a movie, or going to see one, or eating an ice cream cone, or going to a water park, or pretty much anything.

[rekku]

Agreed 100%. Stupid move when you think about the new fans who have not yet discovered how great the game is.. Imagine everyone talking about Witcher 4 and then you want to try the game yourself, only to find out that you have to buy Witcher 3 (FOR THE SAME PRICE) first. You end up paying the price of a fully developed title just to get a DLC. What is that even? DLCs are generally.. DLCs which are additional content for the game and are not the same price as base game. If you argue that well it has as much content as the base game, then why the hell is it even DLC? To justify the price of your DLC you will basically have to argument that the game is fully developed title instead of a DLC content wise.

Read somewhere an argument that the gameplay should be new for it to be its own title. Ever heard of Call of Duties? Battlefields? Half-Life? Quake? Assasin's Creed? Pretty much any known game on this planet has a sequel title that is the same game, just with new missions/maps/items and perhaps sometimes some graphical updates.

[AkQ]

$55 bucks total (or even $70 total at current prices for both) is still a far better cash-to-entertainment ratio than I get from renting a movie, or going to see one, or eating an ice cream cone, or going to a water park, or pretty much anything.

You're comparing one-time-use entertainment forms to a digital computer game? Are you high or otherwise joking?

[mmmPI]

It’s obvious they’re trying to squeeze extra out of fans who have already supported the game over the years, making us buy the base game we’ve all known for ages to access what should have been a fresh title.

Yeah squeezing extra money out of Factorio fan, by making them buy the base game x)

[AkQ]

It’s obvious they’re trying to squeeze extra out of fans who have already supported the game over the years, making us buy the base game we’ve all known for ages to access what should have been a fresh title.

Yeah squeezing extra money out of Factorio fan, by making them buy the base game x)

Mistake. I got carried away, but i fixed it to the original post now.
Thank you.

[r3nt5ch3r]

I don't get your point.

that easily outscales the base game

By far not. Consider what is really "new" and what's the base.
Consider what you already got with mods like https://mods.factorio.com/mod/space-exploration

It’s obvious they’re trying to squeeze extra out of fans who have already supported the game over the years, making us buy the base game we’ve all known for ages to access what should have been a fresh title.

Existing owners don't need to buy the base game twice? If you supported the game (I assume that also includes owning the game?!), you just need to buy Space Age additionally. New players pay $70 for the full experience, existing owners just pay $35. Sounds fair to me.

Factorio is unique. It’s a fully completed game...

Nothing is ever complete. If you think it's complete, then you don't need to play Space Age.
If you think Factorio is unique, then Factorio 2 wouldn't be possible.

Space Age expands Factorio base with some more content. So it's a DLC.
For me it's completely logically and the absolute correct way to do it.

[rekku]

By far not. Consider what is really "new" and what's the base.
Consider what you already got with mods like https://mods.factorio.com/mod/space-exploration

Nothing is ever complete. If you think it's complete, then you don't need to play Space Age.
If you think Factorio is unique, then Factorio 2 wouldn't be possible.

Space Age expands Factorio base with some more content. So it's a DLC.
For me it's completely logically and the absolute correct way to do it.

The size of a mod has nothing to do with if something should be a DLC or not. Total conversion mods are completely new games using the same engine, they just haven't licensed the engine so they can't sell it as an independent game. Some mods although do take the route that they license the engine after they realize the mod deserves it. And it makes financial sense.

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Even on the Steam page it says it continues where the original left off, it is not additional content. It is a sequel to the first one.

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Play time is about 60-100 hours when the original is under 50

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Hardly ever except when technology took huge jumps from 2D to 3D, did games ever change core mechanics for the sequel game.

If you think Factorio is unique, then Factorio 2 wouldn't be possible.

This makes no sense at all and is just random gibberish.


If you look at how DLCs are for all the other games, you would expect every new planet from Space Age to be its own DLC and the space part to be its own DLC. Now they are all added into one, basically full new title, a sequel to original game with a ton of content, 4 new planets, a completely new space mechanic, etc.

[Xorimuth]

It’s obvious they’re trying to squeeze extra out of fans who have already supported the game over the years, making us buy the DLC with full price to access what should have been a fresh title.

If you're already a fan and therefore own base Factorio, it doesn't make any difference to you whatsoever whether you are buying a $35 DLC or a $35 sequel. Sure I can understand new players not wanting to have to buy the base game first but it doesn't make any difference to fans who have been "supported the game over the years".

If it was a sequel, then that would be the devs saying that you should only play SA, base factorio has no place any more. But in fact, I think most new players would benefit from playing base at least once or twice before moving onto SA. SA is a loooong game, which is perhaps reasonable for a DLC, but not so much a game in and of itself.

Releasing it as a DLC has other advantages - players who already owned 1.1 and aren't buying SA still get the free 2.0 update, with many incredible QoL features, and they can play (non-SA) multiplayer with anyone who has ever bought factorio (or anyone who will buy it in the future). It is easy to toggle between SA and base just in the main menu rather than having to have 2 separate games installed. Mods can be released which work with both base and SA out of the box. Mods that aren't compatible with SA or don't want to be aren't consigned to the dustbin of history, since they are still easily playable just by disabling SA.

[rekku]

If it was a sequel, then that would be the devs saying that you should only play SA, base factorio has no place any more. But in fact, I think most new players would benefit from playing base at least once or twice before moving onto SA. SA is a loooong game, which is perhaps reasonable for a DLC, but not so much a game in and of itself.

There are people who have watched others play, from youtube or at friends or just stream and would probably not want to play the base game but to jump in the Space Age instead.

Releasing it as a DLC has other advantages - players who already owned 1.1 and aren't buying SA still get the free 2.0 update, with many incredible QoL features, and they can play (non-SA) multiplayer with anyone who has ever bought factorio (or anyone who will buy it in the future). It is easy to toggle between SA and base just in the main menu rather than having to have 2 separate games installed. Mods can be released which work with both base and SA out of the box. Mods that aren't compatible with SA or don't want to be aren't consigned to the dustbin of history, since they are still easily playable just by disabling SA.

Toggling between mods or expansion from the main menu makes almost no difference as going to mainmenu and exiting the game and starting the other game. Especially with a game like Factorio which starts up very quick.

[mmmPI]

Mistake. I got carried away, but i fixed it to the original post now.

It still says :

There’s zero logical reason for this move except to cash in on existing owners

Which makes no sense, wether or not it's a standalone, existing owner pays the same price.

[rekku]

Listen buddy, if they made this its own standalone game, how could I accumulate more hours on the game itself? I want to show all the other nerds the total amount of hours I've spent on Factorio. Having to show hours on two different games doesn't show my addiction!

Nice that you mentioned the accumulation of hours. Because I for one would much rather see how much I have played the base game and how much SA to compare them to each other, rather than seeing the combined time. Same goes with other people looking at my stats, I would much rather have them see I spent 10 000 hours in Factorio and already have played 500 hours of SA (For example, not my real play hours for the game).

[AkQ]

Mistake. I got carried away, but i fixed it to the original post now.

It still says :

There’s zero logical reason for this move except to cash in on existing owners

Which makes no sense, wether or not it's a standalone, existing owner pays the same price.

You forget the Wild idea: DLC could be free.

[mmmPI]

You forget the Wild idea: DLC could be free.

That makes even less sense regarding the title of the thread, you're asking for a free standalone game ?

The 2.0 update is free for people already owning factorio x)

Nice that you mentioned the accumulation of hours. Because I for one would much rather see how much I have played the base game and how much SA to compare them to each other, rather than seeing the combined time. Same goes with other people looking at my stats, I would much rather have them see I spent 10 000 hours in Factorio and already have played 500 hours of SA (For example, not my real play hours for the game).

So the point is " factorio should have been a stand alone" because : " it looks better for people looking at a steam profile to see the hours count of 2 different game ?"

Releasing it as a DLC has other advantages - players who already owned 1.1 and aren't buying SA still get the free 2.0 update, with many incredible QoL features

Toggling between mods or expansion from the main menu makes almost no difference as going to mainmenu and exiting the game and starting the other game. Especially with a game like Factorio which starts up very quick.

that misses the point though

[rekku]

Mistake. I got carried away, but i fixed it to the original post now.

It still says :

There’s zero logical reason for this move except to cash in on existing owners

Which makes no sense, wether or not it's a standalone, existing owner pays the same price.

You forget the Wild idea: DLC could be free.

Nothing fun should come without a cost. However same price for DLC and base game probably a result of hands rubbing together couple times too many.
DLC should not have more content than base game.
DLC should not be same price as base game.

SA being DLC is just a cash grab on future fans. It makes SA total price to be 70 dollars... Which is more than Triple A games for PC lol.. Only the Japanese companies ask for such money for their IPs such as Tekken, Final Fantasys etc. This is an indie game with 70 dollar price and that alone is just mindbogglingly crazy.

[rekku]

You forget the Wild idea: DLC could be free.

That makes even less sense regarding the title of the thread, you're asking for a free standalone game ?

The 2.0 update is free for people already owning factorio x)

Nice that you mentioned the accumulation of hours. Because I for one would much rather see how much I have played the base game and how much SA to compare them to each other, rather than seeing the combined time. Same goes with other people looking at my stats, I would much rather have them see I spent 10 000 hours in Factorio and already have played 500 hours of SA (For example, not my real play hours for the game).

So the point is " factorio should have been a stand alone" because : " it looks better for people looking at a steam profile to see the hours count of 2 different game ?"

Releasing it as a DLC has other advantages - players who already owned 1.1 and aren't buying SA still get the free 2.0 update, with many incredible QoL features

Toggling between mods or expansion from the main menu makes almost no difference as going to mainmenu and exiting the game and starting the other game. Especially with a game like Factorio which starts up very quick.

that misses the point though

There is no singular reason for why it should be standalone game, just answered to someone's argument about why it should not be a standalone and wholly disagree with the persons argument. If you want to point, then you can look through all the posts and see that there are actual arguments there for why this should be standalone game, not just this teeny tiny side point.

[mmmPI]

There is no singular reason for why it should be standalone game,

I agree, i have looked at the arguments, i find none that makes sense to me, i even went down the list to find some that are teeny tiny, and don't contribute to add up to a count of reason for me.

[rekku]

There is no singular reason for why it should be standalone game,

I agree, i have looked at the arguments, i find none that makes sense to me, i even went down the list to find some that are teeny tiny, and don't contribute to add up to a count of reason for me.

1. SA DLC has more content than the base game.

2. SA DLC costs same amount as the base game.

3. SA DLC literally has in Steam page description saying it is a continuation, a sequel, not an addition (extra content).

4. A very long time has passed and there are new people grown to an age where they are now able to enjoy this kind of games and are looking for new games to play that never heard of Factorio before and they are supposed to pay 70 dollars to play indie game?

5. Your friends can see you are playing SA instead of Factorio and join in if interested.

6. Your playtime hours would accumulate to see how much you have played original and the sequel separately.


All the copium fans are saying about how DLC makes sense is pretty much laughable little things like being able to change the SA to base game from menu.. How many times during an hour you going to do that? You are not gonna be doing that frequently enough for it to make any difference in comparison to just launching the different game.

[Kyralessa]

$55 bucks total (or even $70 total at current prices for both) is still a far better cash-to-entertainment ratio than I get from renting a movie, or going to see one, or eating an ice cream cone, or going to a water park, or pretty much anything.

You're comparing one-time-use entertainment forms to a digital computer game? Are you high or otherwise joking?

In terms of bang for the buck, yes, I find it a valid comparison. Terribly sorry you can't follow the concept; it wasn't my intent to confuse you.