Uncharted 4’s post-release maps and modes will all be free
Naughty Dog won't divide the community with the ample multiplayer DLC
Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End will finally release for PlayStation 4 in one short week on 10 May, and today Naughty Dog shared some crucial news that should ensure the multiplayer component stays strong for some time to come.
Unlike with Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, all of the post-release maps and modes for Uncharted 4‘s online multiplayer game will be available free of charge to everyone – and immediately, too. You won’t have to grind for in-game currency to unlock those essential elements of the experience.
It’s a strategy employed by Halo 5: Guardians, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt has also offered up ample free DLC for fans. As lead game designer Robert Cogburn explained in a PlayStation.Blog post, “The Uncharted 4 multiplayer community won’t be fragmented by different types of DLC.” He added, “We are confident it will have a hugely positive impact.”
Granted, not every addition to the multiplayer experience will be available immediately to all: things like weapons, boosters, skins, and vanity items will indeed be unlocked by earning relics through regular play. However, you can also purchase in-game currency with real money if you don’t want to leave certain item acquisitions up to time and chance.
In short: they’ll give you the really important stuff right away and for free, while the smaller, vanity items may be a bit more elusive and/or pricey. It seems like a hat tip to the success of free-to-play MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) games, and we’ll surely see more multiplayer games adopt a similar approach.
Naughty Dog has a full year of add-on multiplayer content planned, including maps and a new mode this summer, additional maps and a co-op mode this autumn, and plenty of weapons, boosters, skins, and vanity items between the summer and next spring.
And, of course, Naughty Dog will also release a single-player add-on episode at some point, which will be similar in approach to the excellent Left Behind DLC for The Last of Us. Little is know about that piece of the puzzle at this time, but you can read plenty more about the multiplayer modes and DLC approach by reading the source post below.
[Source: PlayStation.Blog]
Andrew Hayward
Freelance Writer 
