For Call of Duty fans - and there are a lot of them - the regularly released DLC map packs are a low blow to to wallets and bank accounts everywhere. Normally priced at $15 for around 4 maps and a zombie level, the cost price for the additional content is rather ridiculous compared to downloadable games which are often cheaper than. Are a few maps really worth 25% the cost of the full retail game?

While DLC has always been somewhat controversial, especially in charging for content often intentionally left out of the full retail package, in the case of Call of Duty: Black Ops, Treyarch says it's not them setting the high prices.

From a business perspective, it does make some sense that the prices for the DLC are so high since gamers are actually buying them in record numbers. Long term however, especially if the competition (see: Battlefield 3) offers better details, that'll change the minds of many and gamers will reflect on how they've spent their hard-earned cash in the past.

In an interview with Gamasutra, Call of Duty multiplayer lead Dan Bunting responded to the DLC pricing criticism:

"You know, we're on the development side, so we don't really have much to do with the business aspect of it, but we just strive to give players the most value that we can possibly give. If you look at how many hours -- in some cases, hundreds of hours -- for some players of entertainment they get, I think it's an incredible value. With Elite, there's a ton of completely free service that gets added on top of the game experience. I think that, if you look at the overall package, it's an incredible value."

We know it's all Activision making these decisions and this is their DLC theme song:

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WCkOmcIl79s

The Call of Duty Elite service, which will launch using Black Ops, Modern Warfare 3 and all games going forward will alleviate some of these issues for hardcore CoD players who buy into the premium service as it will allow them to download all DLC for free (after paying the subscription of course).

If you haven't been picking up the DLC as they've released, here are our reviews of each map pack released thus far (at a whopping $15 each!):

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Source: Gamasutra