The recent report by Daewoo Securities speculating that Guild Wars 2’s expansion pack would cost $50 wasn’t received well by everyone. A fair few comments that I saw were displeased at the price point and they felt that for an expansion pack, $50 was too much. I’d have to disagree but I suppose it does depend entirely on what is in the expansion pack to justify the price. The recent World of Warcraft expansion pack, Warlords of Draenor, set me back around the same price and for it I received an absolute bucket load of content. I’m not quite sure why some players find expansion packs expensive or poor value. I’ve honestly never known an expansion pack for any massively multiplayer game scrimp on content. Some might be lighter than others, but for the most part they’re always good value for money.

The way I look at an expansion pack is to determine how much value the game has given me over the years and how much further value an expansion pack will provide. According to Guild Wars 2, I’ve played for over 870 days and having originally bought the game for £50 I think that’s a bit of a bargain. If an expansion pack comes along and provides me with another 870 days for the same price, it’s surely a worthwhile investment?   

I can’t ever get my head around player reluctance to invest in their hobby, especially massively multiplayer games, as if they are entirely unawares that expansion packs are the “norm” for the genre. MMO’s are notorious for releasing expansion packs because unlike a single player game, the development team need the revenue stream in order to continue to generate income for future development. At $50 per copy (potentially) an expansion pack appeals to every player who already owns the game, effectively allowing for a re-launch that attracts new players while almost certainly guaranteeing a sale from existing.

In the US and EU alone, Guild Wars 2 has sold over 3.5 million copies. That was back in August 2013 and I suspect after the Episode 8 Finale, it’ll be well over 4 million by now. The Chinese playerbase also saw almost 4 million players two months after its release. There’s no hard data on how many still play it, but there’s a market here that’s ripe for revenue generation. If ArenaNet provide half of what players hope will be an expansion pack the studio can be assured that after all this time, the quarter where the release it will see a huge spike in income. Even those who expressed dissatisfaction at the theorised price will still likely part with their hard earned money because like most players, they want more Guild Wars 2.

24 hours after Warlords of Draenor released Blizzard sold over 3 million copies. For a game that boasts 10 million active subscribers, that’s not a bad return on day one. I suspect at this point in time they’re well on their way to 5 million units or more - almost half of their subscribers clearly showing interest. As for the other half? Perhaps they’re not yet invested enough in World of Warcraft, haven’t reached a point where they need the expansion, are simply short of money or waiting for the price to come down. Whichever the option, I’m sure the conversion rate of those who eventually pick up the expansion pack will peak much higher than it is now.

As for Guild Wars 2, if ArenaNet are to announce an expansion pack at PAX South I really hope they continue in the vein of value for money. They’ve given away a lot of brilliant content entirely free over the last two years, how much are they able to provide when it’s slapped with a price tag? Even the Living World chapters at 200 Gems each are pretty good value. My only concern at this current moment is whether or not ArenaNet have had enough time to create that value. They’re known for working at breakneck speeds, but providing all that the community are asking for and more is going to be a tough ask in that time frame.

What are your thoughts on the costs of expansion packs? Do you always buy them? Do you see most as good value for money? Let me know!