Owners of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim on the PlayStation 3 have been irate over the troubles of its first DLC expansion, Dawnguard.
Already available on the Xbox 360 and PC, the former for months, Bethesda has informed players on several occasions (and ever so vaguely) that technical troubles are plaguing Dawnguard’s PS3 development, causing its delay. The vampire-hunting DLC appeared sin esperanza this week when the developer admitted it might not release for the platform at all.
But while the anger is unanimous, its target is not. The Dawnguard drama has raised a valid point of contention over the last few months: Just how much does Sony warrant the blame? The console maker is notorious for the complex hardware comprising its third generation gaming system; but then again, you can’t mention the development history of Skyrim (and many Bethesda titles, for that matter) without invoking its laundry list of bugs and patches.
But in the end, we may never know. Rather than verbally admonishing one another or drafting statements through their legal departments, it appears that Sony and Bethesda have a strong collaboration when it comes to Skyrim and DLC.
In an interview with Kotaku, Sony Vice President Adam Boyes revealed that the company is working directly with Bethesda to bring Dawnguard to fruition. Additionally, he cast his support behind everyone involved in the project:
"We work with all of our partners to try and solve their problems. We have a big, broad dev support team that works closely with Bethesda–and with all of our partners–to work with them to solve that any sort of issues they have along the way. Of course, I always want everything to work always for everyone. I can't promise any kind of resolution or timeline but can say that everyone involved is trying their best to get this stuff working."
Whether or not Sony’s intervention helps — whether or not Dawnguard, an expansion our review thought well of, releases — remains unclear. Boyes didn’t indicate that Sony had only now jumped in, offering a solution better than anyone at Bethesda has been conjure up; it’s entirely possible the two have been concerting since Dawnguard appeared troubled back in July — or even earlier. We’re hoping there’s a panacea up someone’s sleeve somewhere, but like Pete Hines before him, the Sony VP couldn’t make any promises.
Throughout all the frustration, however, it’s good to see the two companies remain neighborly, if nebulous. PlayStation 3 owners won’t stop debating who deserves their angst until the content releases — paying for a game that advertises the same experience as its Xbox counterpart, they’d be justified in doing so — but with each passing week, Dawnguard looks like it needs all the help in can get.
Ranters, are you glad Sony is assisting Bethesda with the development of Dawnguard? Does it improve the odds of the DLC’s release?
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Source: Kotaku