On Thursday Capcom announced that the first DLC for Resident Evil 5 would be a mode called Versus in which players got to compete against each other in two different challenge modes. They also announced that it would cost everyone some money to get this mode. We expressed some concern over the fact that we were being charged extra fro what seems like basic multiplayer, but also noted that the RE5 disc is so crammed full of content anyway that, in this case, it wasn’t that big a deal. Capcom has also come out defending the decision to charge for the content over at the Capcom-Unity forums.

When asked about why Versus was something we will all have to pay for, Capcom’s VP of Strategic Planning & Business Development, Christian Svensson, noted that “Prior to the announcement of the Versus mode, no one complained they weren’t getting their money’s worth with the initial release because it packs TONS of value because it is an amazing game. So if people were already satisfied with what the package had, when we offer MORE, why is it people feel they’ve been somehow cheated?” He also, like us, pointed out that the RE5 disc is already crammed with content and that a versus mode is something brand new to the franchise and thus not a normal inclusion in the game. On top of this he says that the DLC is considered as a separate game and thus has its own budget and is viewed as separate content.

If it were any other game this would have us up in arms, but there are still parts of RE4 I haven’t beaten yet, and I own it two times over (Wii and GC). Really, the only issues we could possibly have here is if other games with less gameplay upon initial purchase start following this trend. No one wants to have to pay extra for their multiplayer fun.