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Bungie Unveils New Halo 2 Maps
An anonymous reader writes "Bungie has revealed that a total of 9 new maps will be made available both over Xbox Live and as a separate $20 add-on DVD for those without. The first maps will come out on Live in late April with 2 free and 2 for purchase (all maps will be free on Live by the end of the summer) with the remaining 5 debuting on Live when the add-on DVD is released. Also featured in the content update are a wide variety of fixes to eliminate cheating and balance gameplay elements."
"MS" getting $30? MAYBE gross, but I doubt even that... After paying all the employees, paying back Bungie, and the money that goes towards keeping XBL running with all the extra Halo players (There were rumors that on November 9th almost a full 1% of all internet traffic was XBL)... They're making a profit, but not the huge numbers you'd have us believe. You don't pay for maps? Fine. The rest of us will. I have no problem spending money on something I enjoy. I'm just sorry that you've joined the growing number of people who feel they DESERVE something for free.
No. The argument that because MS have already made a ton of money on Halo 2 they have therefore already 'paid for' future expansion development is completely specious.
The game has already been developed, and people have already bought it. That money is already in the coffers, regardless of whether they do an expansion or not. It's like the concept of 'sunk costs', only in reverse.
The question is, if MS/Bungie spend the incremental cost to produce expansion levels, do they get enough additional revenue as a result to justify it. The expansion has to pay for itself on those terms, not based on revenue already banked.
That additional revenue might come directly, or might come in the form of additional sales of the parent product. You can also factor in the value of customer goodwill and perpetuation of the brand. It's still probably a good calculation for them, but that's not directly related to the amount of money they have already made.