It's July 27th, 2012. And for everyone that doesn't own an XBox 360 that can only mean one thing. The 30-day exclusivity agreement between Bethesda and Microsoft has ended. The sun has risen on "Dawnguard" and the first piece of DLC for the widely acclaimed Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is here.
Only it isn't.
In fact not only was the DLC not released for PC and PS3 users today, instead we were greeted with a series of cryptic and frankly disrespectful comments from Bethesda's VP of Marketing, Pete Hines.
"We have not announced Dawnguard for any other platform, nor given a timeline for any such news. If we have news, I promise I'd tell you."
Followed shortly after by:
"Sometimes it's better to say nothing until you can provide solid info than say something before you can."
And that's where I would have to disagree with you Pete. We live in a digital world where information travels faster than sound, so it's not like the fanbase could not have been warned. When "Dawnguard" was first announced the internet went rabid in anticipation, everyone knew that something was coming and it would be great. And instantly people began to discuss the new content's upcoming release for PS3 and PC. Not for one day. But since May people have discussed its upcoming release on the day after the 30-day exclusive content contract with Microsoft ends. And then today nothing but the above messages.
The product exists, it has been widely sold for over a month. And now it is being withheld using the marketing strategy of artificial scarcity. An especially despicable tactic that believes by offering the DLC to Microsoft users only initially it will drive sales of the game on their platform and by extension drive hardware sales. The item is scarce solely because of producers withholding the content - similar to what happened with the initial Nintendo Wii launch and the the entire Diamond industry (Look 'em up, it makes for good reading.)
I gotta tell ya, I own an Xbox and a PC and its not making me want to pick up a third Xbox 360 to be able to play the content (Yes, third - I have already had two fail with bad disc drives.) Now half of Bethesda's player base is left scratching their heads and wondering how much Microsoft is paying to keep the item solely on their shelves.
...And not anticipating the game's next DLC. Bad PR move guys.
Sources:
http://www.statisticbrain.com/skyrim-the-elder-scrolls-v-statistics/
http://kotaku.com/5929541/skyrim-dawnguard-30+day-xbox-360-exclusivity-has-now-exceeded-30-days
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