The Weekly Raid: Should Early Access Games Release DLC?

This one may seem obvious. I'm sure many of you shouted a hyperbolic "NO!" as soon as you read the title. But bear with me.

Early this week Studio Wildcard released an expansion DLC for their game Ark: Survival Evolved, and there was an uproar. "Releasing DLC for an Early Access game!??? This is unethical!" A biblical deluge of negativity now sits on the game's store page. And this event is my jumping point for a general discussion.

Let's get one thing straight. This question doesn't pertain specifically to Ark: I don't want to discuss Studio Wildcard's legal trouble, their promises, etc. What I want to know is whether, in general, selling (or even releasing it as a free update) DLC for an Early Access title is right or wrong.

Because my initial thought is, "What the hell is Early Access anyway?" At what point will a game leave Early Access? Some games are in EA purgatory for what seems to be forever. And if the developers continue to brainstorm new features for their game why would they ever leave EA; after-all it's a brilliant sticker that says, "we're not responsible if you buy this and it has cracks. We'll glue it back together later."

But instead of constantly pruning what they started with, they release an update that adds a new map to their battle royale game. It may be seen as copping out at fixing issues with the original map, but it also adds fresh content to keep players interested. A huge update that could be construed as DLC breathes fresh content into a game, keeps people interested.

I'm not sure that a huge update to an Early Access game is necessarily bad or unethical—a price tag might be construed as pay-to-get-ahead/win. DLC can bring about optimization and further the initial interests of the developer's goal. DLC can also be a complete scam to fill some pockets. But it seems to me, as of this writing, that the entire practice of releasing DLC for an EA title can be written off as a sweeping, generalized "NO!" in all cases.

Should Early Access games release DLC? Let us know in the comments below!