This is exactly the case for me. I don't mind a DLC or two if they are actual full expansions of the game, but when I see a hundred little ones that should all have been one thing, I won't have anything to do with it.

They are one of very few studios who update their games for years after release. Games make the biggest chunk of lifetime revenue at release. Unless you are a unicorn and have low development costs (Minecraft, Terraria, factorio), you will simply go bankrupt updating your game for free. See the rise of industry dude, made 4 million and now lost his house. Why? He kept funding development for four years without any revenue. Everyone who wanted the game bought it in the first year.

If you want to keep updating your game for more than a couple of months you need cashflow. You have the choice of micro transactions, subscriptions or dlc. You need to do this or go bankrupt.

Paradox gives free content updates along every DLC. I really fail to see how that is bad. The alternative would be to simply release the game, patch it for a couple months, then start working on the next game, like every other game studio. But people would hate that to. You can really do nothing in the games industry without people hating on you.

They don't though? Okay, i haven't played any of their new stuff (my poison was Stellaris), but the base games have always been decent to play. Their dlc has been getting worse, Stellaris race packs just should not be a thing, but it's not as bad as some people make it out to be.

I'd consider buying 1 dlc pack for Stellaris but atm I just played the base game on GamePass to learn the basics. I think the other user in this thread had a point about the industry needing to make money constantly and not just make money upon release. I'm glad that paradox supports their games unlike other companies that make dreadful console ports to xbox and never update anything, even when the tools and advice exists from microsoft.

What I dislike more than paradox is these companies that publish a game and abandon it after a few months. They could at least update the graphics for Series S/X consoles but no, games like Aliens: Dark Descent and Batman are left with blurry 2012 graphics because the companies don't care. Even worse is the games with freezing or crashing bugs.

Sure paradox charge a lot of money for dlc and they keep pumping it out but the same could be said for age of empires 2 and 4. If the game is worth it for you then you'll buy a major dlc bundle and spend all your time in the game you like most.

That's true. I have a similar dilemma with war thunder. It can be expensive and I feel like it's rage inducing. Surely buying a full game is better for replay value. Why spend extra when there are so many other options.

And so, I shop around. GamePass on Xbox Series S has been great for 2 months. It gives me a clear picture of what I might pay for in the future. Stellaris seems pretty cool though and they keep supporting it, which can't be said for the bargain bin games that I pick up for pennies.

I think the base game stinks and it doesn't give me much to work with. I can't even do espionage without Nemesis dlc. Options are limited in my opinion. Same thing with cities skylines. Base game doesn't offer much.