As consumers, we'd prefer to get content updates for free rather than pay for them. Yesterday, Coffee Stain Studios announced that it will patch more content into Goat Simulator for free in May , and according to the developer's game designer and PR manager Armin Ibrisagic, that's not only great for us, but also good for business.
Ibrisagic has two main reasons why free updates make sense. The first is that Coffee Stain and other small developer don't have a huge marketing budget and rely on fans' good word of mouth. We like it when developers add content for free, which makes us like the developer. That, in turn, makes us more likely to recommend the game.
His other, more salient point is that paid DLC can only appeal to the players who already bought the game. Free updates, on the other hand, can appeal to new players by making the game seem more valuable. The more free stuff Coffee Stain adds to Goat Simulator , the more new player are getting for their money.
Makes sense to me. If you want to read more about why Coffee Stain chose to add more content to Goat Simulator for free, check out Ibrisagic post on Gamasutra , where he also explains how the studio learned this lesson from its DLC strategy for Sanctum .
