http://forums.gametrailers.com/showthread.php?t=86...

What we have here is simply a difference of opinion on how to maximize the return on Gears of War - something both Epic and Microsoft want to do. While we create products like Gears because we love games, and we have a passion for making them, at the end of the day this is a business for both companies and how we earn our living.

Epic thinks the way to maximize the return on Gears of War is to give the maps away for free and Microsoft thinks the way to maximize the return on Gears of War is to sell the maps. So what we’ve agreed to do is to put these maps on sale at a reasonable price then make them free a few months later. They did this with the original Halo2 map pack and it was a huge success. Lots of people bought the maps and lots of people downloaded them when they became free. That’s what is going to happen and it seems like a fair compromise for both companies and a win-win for Gears players.

Why does Epic not have control over this even though we created this content on our own time and our own dime? Quite frankly Xbox Live Marketplace isn’t our store. It’s Microsoft’s store. Like any retailer they have the right to figure out what goes on the shelves of their store and what price they sell it at. They spend the money to operate the store and deliver the content. They’ve also spent billions of dollars to create and build Xbox and subsidize it’s the price so you can afford it and we can make games for it. As our publisher, they also invested tens of millions of dollars marketing Gears of War, and have done an awesome job for us, so they have a right to a good return on that investment.

As Tim Sweeney and I said in the podcast, we want the download economy to work – it is something the industry needs, something we hope to use in the future, something that will help bring more variety to end-users and ultimately could help bring prices down for end-users. If we had to put this map pack on a disc and sell it in retail it would be more expensive to end-users and maybe we wouldn't have done it because of all the extra work and cost involved.

In the mean time we are planning to bring out an awesome new Gears of War multi-player gametype called Annex that works will all of the existing multi-player maps and the new pack we're talking about here. The 1UP guys who got to play it a few weeks ago left the office raving about how it could be our best Gears gametype yet and I think a lot of people will enjoy it. Best of all, it is totally FREE and will come in the new Gears update that we expect to see released this week.

Im not paying for something which probably would have been free in the first place if it wasn't rushed out the door.

charge for first few months, get them free later.

Well I was pissed before, but now that I know they doing the Halo 2 move, it's not that bad. I'll just wait till they're free, then own them up. I guess everybody wins this way. Still, that's some shitty moves by MS..

Like Epic said Microsoft published the game and spent millions of dollars marketing it and Xbox Live Marketplace is Microsoft's store.

YEah ... Microsoft really cares about us doesnt it ...... Yo woudl think that with over 4 million copies of the game sold they would let us have this as well for free but NOoooo!
They can keep it for all I care. Yes, Im cheap.

yea thats just like going to a restaurant once a month and having the most expensive meal, then a few months later walking in and saying to the owner " ive eaten here once a month every month, i want all my meals for free from now on", the owner would kick you out of the door.

Hmm. your analogy doesnt make sense at all. I had the first meal for free and obviously I would refuse to pay for the next because what attracted me first to the meal was it being free :D
Anyway, this is they way I feel about it.

maybe kinda the wrong way i put it, ive just got up ! heads still fuzzy ,

The responses here, at GAF, and everywhere always amuse the shit out of me. It never ceases to amaze me how friggin clueless internet fanboys are. This is a simple straightforward business decision. In fact, it is hugely generous to fans. But what do fanboys do? They bitch and moan about lack of free content. They really should grow up and realize that there ain't no such thing as a free lunch. Once they get over that, life will be much more relaxing.

Seems a lot of angst over nothing.

1. People have already got 2 free multiplayer maps extra
2. People are getting an extra gametype free
3. They are quite reasonbly priced
4. They are going to be free.

And as already stated, it IS M$ and they have a right to charge for stuff, on their marketplace, for the game that they spent a lot of money on.

I mean, same thing happened with halo 2. Except there were a lot more maps involved.

I'm so confused by this.

What is there to be confused by?

MS is going to let people DL it for free after a few months. That is very generous, and smart, on their part. They offered a great win/win solution for everyone. This is perfect customer segmentation. Those that value the maps buy them for a fair price. Those that don't or can't pay eventually get a treat from MS. Anyone who bitches about it, really doesn't understand business very well. This is a fantastic solution to the issue, one that obviously worked well with Halo 2. MS optimizes their revenue stream and gives fans that can't afford the content something for free later.

pay to get them a few months early or wait and get them free... i can live with that.

THANK YOU! somebody who talks sense in this thread at last!Your fanboy argument is really uncalled for in this case. last time I checked, fanboys rush out to buy things no matter what and this quality, I assure you (not that I care), doesnt belong in my dictionary.

Epic has always been a free content provider to their communities and it's the reason behind the success of many of their franchises.

Well, tbh, anyone knowing MS a little knew this was going on.. People believing MS doesn't have any influence on the pricing of stuff on their marketplace are just very naive..

I was a bit plesantly surprised Epic was able to release the 1st small mappack for free (although they had to attach a sponsor), but now it's clear they also cannot escape the MS money marketplace bandwagon.. Making the maps free after a few months is BS, they know very well the real fans will all buy the maps.. Infact they are screwing their real fans, taking advantage of the people that are hardcore fans of the game and cannot wait a few months to play the new maps.. People that can wait are not the hardcore fans, people that would never play the maps if they didn't become free.. So instead of rewarding their fanbase, they are screwing them.. For the simple reason, greed!

I really like the Xbox 360, but the way MS remains a company that's out for total domination and control on any market they get involved in so they can start charging is just sickening.. They see the gameconsolemarket as a nice new milkingcow for cash, letting loose all their fancy buisinessmodels on it without letting any competion get involved that could undermine they plans (like developers wanting to give away stuff for free, it undermines their buisinessmodel because users will start to wonder why some things are free and some are not, so for MS it's better if it's all paid so people get used to it).. You want to give free content to your fans? Naha, not on our system!!

Good thing MS doesn't totally control the PC market yet.. Although they probably will give it a go now with Windows Live and Games for Windows etc.. Slowly making PC gamers get used to paid service and content aswell.. God, I hope they fail..

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It probably wouldn' t have sold the 4 million copies it did if it wasn't marketed to hell and back as THE Xbox 360 title.

Did it need to be under the spotlight at Zerohour? Did it need to be the opener for Microsoft's E3 2006 press conference. I understand where people are coming from and I want free stuff just like anyone else, but I think Microsoft's investment is being overlooked. Its possible the marketing it received costed more than the game itself.

Ok let's see:

The game costed $10 Million and let's assume marketing all together did cost $30 million (a rediculously big number for purpose), now you do the maths!