2015 Gaming Odds & Ends Awards | GameSided Recap

2015 Gaming Odds & Ends Awards – The EA DLC Award: Halo 5: Guardians

It’s the first year of these awards, so let me better explain this category. Each year, video games find more and more egregious ways of getting players to buy into more content. Most of the time, Electronic Arts has led the way in this regard, whether it be in mobile offerings, Season Pass shenanigans or trying to force online passes down our throats. Each year’s worst example of DLC/microtransactions will earn the annual “EA DLC Award.” Being anti-consumer takes precedence over being anti-quality, but both are regarded here.

This year goes to Halo 5: Guardians because, despite being a $60 game that removed couch co-op and a host of other previously standard gameplay modes, they’re still trying to find new ways to nickel and dime their dwindling consumer base. This year, it comes in REQ bundles, which act like random loot packs that can be used in the newly-created Arena Mode. They cost $5.99 in a $60 game and alter how matches work. Yes, they can be spent with in-game currency, but if that is the case, why make people play at all?

For going after the F2P whales in a full release game, Halo 5: Guardians wins the EA DLC Award of 2015. An “honorable” mention goes to the $40, low-quality Batman: Arkham Knight Season Pass and its weak content.

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