Online multiplayer titles have a history of splitting its audience as developers release purchasable DLC, but Back 4 Blood has a clever way of handling this issue. Developers at Turtle Rock Studios won't be locking content away in future Back 4 Blood DLC.
As long as the party leader of a group that's playing Back 4 Blood has one of the future paid DLCs, all members of the party have access to that content. This will allow players to stay together through whatever future content rolls out to the wave-based survival FPS. Among the potential content teased for future Back 4 Blood DLC include new maps, gameplay, and campaigns.
Back 4 Blood was recently shown off during Xbox and Bethesda's game showcase at E3 2021 and it was confirmed for Xbox Game Pass on the day of its release. Turtle Rock Studios later took to its official blog to discuss potential DLC and how players will be able to stay together despite some of them purchasing DLC in the future while others remain with the base version of the game. Turtle Rock hasn't confirmed what Back 4 Blood's future content roadmap looks like beyond the purchasable DLC in the future, but it will also receive free content drops as well. Future free content teased for Back 4 Blood includes new playable characters and Ridden.
Back 4 Blood will release on Xbox Game Pass on day one with crossplay enabled as well. This may ensure that several players remain connected as the gaming subscription service boasts over 23 million subscribers. This innovative approach to paid DLC will keep those players, and players who purchase Back 4 Blood alike get to continue gaming together throughout the lifespan of the title. Since Turtle Rock Studios confirmed that the Back 4 Blood party leader may share paid DLC content with the rest of their party members, gamers will have to ensure that whoever bought the DLC is the leader of the party.
This new approach may encourage people who don't have the DLC already to purchase it after being able to give the content a try before buying it. Players who do purchase DLC may also have an easier time finding groups with this new approach to paid DLC. In the past, several franchises have split their communities over time through paid DLC such as Call of Duty, Battlefield, and even Left 4 Dead. As time has gone by, many of them thought of new ways to prevent this from happening, but Back 4 Blood may have the most unique approach. Xbox fans may be looking forward to seeing how this approach will pan out, but the industry itself may learn a lot from this approach to paid DLC.
Back 4 Blood releases on October 12 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.
Source: Back 4 Blood, Pure Xbox