Xbox Live Chief Major Nelson Cites Sony’s Fat Checkbook As Reason For Exclusive PS4 DLC

When the concept of downloadable content for games first hit us, people en masse were enraged at the fact that companies couldn't just sell us a complete game from the get-go. Fast-forward to today, and DLC is a much more accepted, but that doesn't mean the underlying issues no longer exist.

For the most part, many gamers today seem fine with purchasing DLC as long as it feels like it provides real value. If a game is a mere 8 hours long and has $40 worth of DLC to extend that, no one is going to be pleased outside of the game's most intense fans. But when happens when DLC for an otherwise multi-platform game is only available for one particular console as an exclusive?

That's something that console gamers know all too well, because it's the PlayStation 4 that seems to nail all of the hot deals. According to Microsoft's Larry Hryb, aka Major Nelson, there's a good reason for that: Sony "decided to write a lot of [checks]". That's a ridiculously obvious answer, but it's nice to hear it from someone in a position of influence, and who has a lot of reach.

It's clear that Sony is writing lots of checks to either persuade Xbox One gamers to move on over, or to keep PlayStation 4 gamers right in their place. With regards to exclusive DLC, Destiny is one game that tops the list. Last fall, with the release of The Taken King expansion, the game was treated to a handful of PS4-exclusives, and come this fall, those exclusives were supposed to be made available to Xbox One gamers. That, however, didn't happen. Instead, on the eve of the release of its latest expansion Rise of Iron, Bungie said that the exclusivity would be extended for another year. Imagine that!

Destiny's Rise of Iron has exclusive PS4 content

It's no secret why people hate exclusive DLC, and it's unfortunate that companies are so easily persuaded to offer it. Destiny's Rise of Iron also has exclusive PS4 DLC, which we expect will never hit Xbox One simply because Destiny 2 is due out in 2017.

According to Hryb, Microsoft looks at opportunities like this from the context of, "Is this best for the community and the best use of our money?" From that, we can tell where Sony's priorities lay, and while that's great for PS4 gamers, it downright sucks for Xbox gamers.