According to Valve, it was Microsoft's decision to charge for the Xbox 360 version of Left 4 Dead's soon-to-be-released DLC dubbed "Crash Course." In a talk with Eurogamer, Valve's Chet Faliszek said that Valve owns its platform, Steam, and Microsoft owns theirs. "They wanted to make sure there's an economy of value there," Faliszek said.

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typical microsoft

sigh...

Microsoft's "micropayment" strategy has been impemented since the xbox360 hit shelves. I bought almost no games for PC when I owned the original XBOX, but now the value of PC games means I haven't bought a game for 360 in over a year. I think more gamers may also return to PC for many reasons.....

$$$ Don't pay to play online
$$$ Don't pay microsoft for hardware repairs.
$$$ Pay less for games
$$$ Free content online
.... no waiting for Microsoft approval of patches.
.... user created content


I also used to think Xbox Live had value because of quality controls (protecting from cheaters,fast network speeds,etc.) but I think I set my hopes too high. Now I feel like I'm paying to watch commercials.

At the moment I don't mind, considering I get my 360 games dirt cheap compared to PC games...and I don't have to worry so much about cheaters.

Yeah, like the rest of the industry has set a different standard. Oh wait, let me go laugh at you hypocrites as you complain here then head off to iTunes to buy music and then a few crap app's on your phone.

I have been buying DLC for my 360 for 3 years now. While I liked the setup originally it has had me thinking recently, what happens if my 360 dies? Well, it did and I had to buy another one otherwise I would have lost access to all the games and software ive purchased as DLC.
I wonder how long DLC will be available once the 360 is no longer Microsofts newest console.
As far as MS forcing Valve to charge for content, this is a strange one. I do not own Left for Dead on the 360 but Valve have already been able to release the first DLC for free on live so there is their "grow the communitiy" freebee right there. But MS are making money from DLC and they cant allow one company to release free updates because it will make their model for other companies look bad.
I can understand why they would want to charge something for this. Sony charge for DLC bandwidth on PS3 too which I thought was a reason Valve werent doing DLC on the PS3. Maybe someone can be arsed to look that up - I have to get to work :)

Long live Steam. Just another reason why PC online gaming is better IMHO. With online gaming via XB360, you're forced into paying for online access (at least for the ultimate tier). You do have to pay for some online gaming via PCs (such as WoW), but there are SO many options for the PC out there, that most are free.
L4D updates have been free for me, as well as all the DLC. I'll stick with the PC as my primary on-line gaming platform.

yer, **** the xbox! dam thing, My xbox live is about to run out and I am not planning to renew. I do own all Gears 2 and Halo DLC, thats all I have bought tho. I will prob renew when I get Halo ODST. Will get MW 2 on PC, Its so much cheaper on PC than Xbox and PS3.

Yeah, I played Gears of War 2 until they made you basically pay for the game a second time in maps that you have to buy to play online... (I think it seriously totals over $50)
Pathetic. Even Halo 3 wasn't THAT bad.