MS support led to Homefront DLC deal

By Tom Bramwell Published 21 January, 2011

Plus: Kaos on story innovation and subtlety.

Developer Kaos Studios has told Eurogamer that the deal to bring all Homefront DLC to Xbox 360 first only came about because Microsoft showed great support for the game while Sony stood mute.

"It's really just about them coming to us and saying they want to get involved," senior level designer Rex Dickson explained during THQ's Gamer's Week in New York City last Friday.

Microsoft has made a habit in recent years of tying up time-limited exclusivity deals on downloadable content - famously including Grand Theft Auto IV, the Fallout titles and Call of Duty - and believes this has helped to drive Xbox Live subscriptions to their current 30 million user total.

"You know, the PlayStation version is great, but Sony really didn't come to us and say, 'We want to support you and get behind you.' I think their focus right now is on Killzone. So that's really how it all happened," Dickson added.

Kaos and THQ believe that gamers should be excited about Homefront for more reasons than just the DLC, of course. Last week's revelations were tied into the first hands-on with Homefront multiplayer, which you can read more about elsewhere on the site, and included the unveiling of Battle Commander - an AI system that tasks players with context-sensitive objectives during the course of battle.

"If you're not going to bring something new to the table then why even bother?" Dickson said of Battle Commander. "That was really the genesis of the idea. It's a way to service things that happen naturally in other games but build an actual feature around it."

Dickson's focus is primarily on single-player, where he told us that many of Homefront's best innovations are in storytelling - something that he believes has been neglected elsewhere in a swamped first-person shooter genre.

"I think you'd be hard-pressed to find anybody who would say there's a lot of innovation [in the FPS genre]," he told Eurogamer. "I think what you see in the FPS genre is just a lot of polish and production values. It's one of the most polished genres out there, where you almost have to be triple-A to even compete.

"I think Homefront in a way, its innovation comes at least on the single-player side not so much from the game mechanics perspective, but more about the fictional context, the dialogue, what the game is about - civilians in an occupied country.

"All those ideas are really unique. In the future I think we'd like to start pushing more innovation down to the mechanics level, but for us Homefront is a big step in that direction with the fictional side."

That future may mean additional Homefront games which deal with other elements of the Korean occupation of the continental United States - a situation far too deep-seated for the survivors to overcome in the course of a single adventure.

"We're telling just one story of this much larger world," said Dickson. "In our game the story is about a small group, a small insurgent cell making one small contribution that's feeding into a larger battle, and even that larger battle at the end of the game is just one small engagement that's happening in a big series of engagements that are happening all over the country."

And while Homefront has been criticised in some quarters for its choice of aggressors - particularly given escalating tensions between North and South Korea in recent months - Dickson, like THQ core games boss Danny Bilson, told Eurogamer that the studio was taking a subtle approach, heavily influenced by Half-Life 2 and nurtured by Hollywood screenwriter John Milius, who consulted on Homefront.

"There's a scene where a kids' parents get shot in front of the child and it starts crying," Dickson offered us by way of an example. "When we first introduced that idea, a lot of the developers weren't comfortable with it - they have families when they go home, they have kids - and were just like, 'Why are we putting this in the game? I don't like this.'

"But we're going for something where we're trying to make the player feel an emotion here, and it's sort of battling that urge to say, 'We can't go this far,' while others are like, 'We have to push this far if we want to push the medium forward.' That was an interesting battle in development, and I think any time you tackle unsettling themes like this, you're going to get people who just aren't comfortable with it.

"Look at Half-Life 2 - our model for pacing - and it takes a very subtle approach to the oppression. They don't bang you over the head with it. And that scene with the parents I was talking about - there's no gore in that scene, it's all audio and animation. You don't see brains splatter all over.

"We try to treat it subtly - and I think that's the key."

Homefront is due out for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in March.

For all the latest on Homefront, check out our dedicated microsite.

Picture of Tom.

About Tom Bramwell

Tom is Operations director of Eurogamer Network and Editor-at-Large of Eurogamer.net. He joined the company in February 2000. Follow him on Twitter.

Read more articles from Tom by visiting the Tom Bramwell archive page.

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Comments (46) Latest comment 1 year ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • spazmo #1 1 year ago

    Money talks.

  • chris_ace #2 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 15:13:13 09-05-2012

  • RobotRocker #3 1 year ago

    subtlety

    Gee. You think all that near borderline racism might be constituted as subtle as a brick to the head, THQ?

    God this game is disgusting.

  • SBfistfun #4 1 year ago

    Yeah but Killzone 1 & 2 have been average and I've seen nothing to suggest the next one will be any different.

    In saying that, homefront doesnt look anything special either.

  • supermaniacs #5 1 year ago

    What a stupid and childish way of handing out an exclusive. It's not Sony or Microsoft that's buying your game, it's the fans, so giving one set of fans a gimped version of a game smacks of stupidity and ignorance of Bobby Koticks level!!

    Was planning to buy your game, but have decided to stick with the awesome Battlefield!!!

  • Lord_Gremlin #6 1 year ago

    Well, I'm looking forward to Killzone 3 and Bulletstorm... but this Homefront - WTF? Online will be dead in a month, who the hell needs the DLC for it?

  • Lord_Gremlin #7 1 year ago

    @SBfistfun: Killzone 1 was awesome, Killzone 2 however had shit instead of story. Still, there is hope...

  • feistycheese #8 1 year ago

    "It's really just about them coming to us and saying they want to get involved,"

    Translates as - "They gave us a shit load of money, a free trip to Disneyland and a years subscription to OXM in exchange for our souls"

  • Moonprince #9 1 year ago

    Crime to try and draw comparison with this and HL2... Just stop.

  • Dizzy #10 1 year ago

    A lot of anger here. Some of you guys are so emo, you could probably cry under water.

  • jake-123 #11 1 year ago

    microsoft just need to stop licking bum holes and get off the planet and let ps3 take over the console world. i mean all xbox have got this year is hoping that gears of war 3 is actually gna be any good. ps3 has got off to a great start. DC universe online + LBP2, KZ3 next month.

    but seriously, what is the point in timed exclusives? oh xbox gets dlc a week or two before ps3, big whoop, not like anyones gna go buy an eggbox just for dlc?

    however, i'm looking forward to this game, should hopefully be pretty decent

  • scottycam #12 1 year ago

    Agreed, whats with all the bitching and whining everytime something Xbox positive is announced? I guess Eurogamer times these stories to be posted when the rich kids get out of school.

  • cianchristopher #13 1 year ago

    Thanks for sharing those thoughts with us, jake-123.

    And you're right, the PS3 really is the ULTIMATE CONSOLE OF ALL TIME.

    I.... I see that now.

  • MerricK #14 1 year ago

    @cianchristopher


    I think your missing the point behind the fan boys keyboard warrior rage of ps3 taking over the world (i'm a ps3 owner however i did enjoy having an xbox once a upon a time) there's a sense of disbelief that ms and thq seem to think that timed exclusive DLC is a winner for the consumer. which it isn't.

    Unless the game/published is made by MS/SONY then it shouldn't an exclusive or timed exclusive but such is the world we live in, of money grabbing wankers.

  • MerricK #15 1 year ago

    @cianchristopher


    I think your missing the point behind the fan boys keyboard warrior rage of ps3 taking over the world (i'm a ps3 owner however i did enjoy having an xbox once a upon a time) there's a sense of disbelief that ms and thq seem to think that timed exclusive DLC is a winner for the consumer. which it isn't.

    Unless the game/published is made by MS/SONY then it shouldn't an exclusive or timed exclusive but such is the world we live in, of money grabbing wankers.

  • Raiten #16 1 year ago

    It's no suprise xbox360 is rapidly becoming the least used console in my house. MS just keeps chasing exclusive/timed exclusive dlc deals for shooters, or investing heavily in shooters anyway.
    It was a console with variety to games on it's early days, but keeps disapointing me more and more the longer it's lifecycle gets.
    They'd do better following sonys lead and starting to invest in new original games.

  • man.the.king #17 1 year ago

    The article headline should read: MS "support" led to Homefront DLC deal

  • sneetch #18 1 year ago

    Money really provides universal "support". You'd imagine that if the various arms of Microsoft were communicating that the exclusive DLC would be spread over PC and 360 but as usual they give the lie to their near-annual claims that they're going to increase PC support.

  • NotSoSlim #19 1 year ago

    Really interesting next gen if MS lack of first party support comes back to haunt them.

    Get some studios open MS or buy some

  • FladgeMangle #20 1 year ago

    Another modern day war game? Awesome.

    Fox News wish fulfillment bullshit. Hate the evil commies cos they want to get you. The enemy - that real life country over there - is baying for your blood. They don't even speak English! Wipe them out.

    I just hope this attention seeking DLC is something that wipes the game and educates the player in the true nature of global politics. Sigh. Here come the negs and the "they would if they could" comments...



  • miiiguel #21 1 year ago

    Interesting comments. Angry people. Chill. It's Friday, I'm in love.

    PS3 conquer the woooooorld! wooooot! Exclusives!

  • tancredo #22 1 year ago

    I don't understand people's cries
    MS supported the game so it could be realized at full potential by the developers. Fair deal
    Sony has many FPS exclusives coming out this year. It is understandable they passed on Homefront in favor of supporting games such as Killzone because of their investement and potential benefits from such exclusive games. Also a fair deal.

    So people complain because MS are getting a bigger benefit from their investment in Homefront than Sony by having passed on the option.

    Grow up! Maybe the other option is MS not supporting the game and us receiving a mediocre game as a consequence. I am sure many people would be happier with this option (as long as they get to play Killzone)

  • Lunastra78 #23 1 year ago

    I'll be really surprised if this game sells any significant amount of copies. After all this is a crowded genre where fans usually just crave more of the same game (CoD)

    But hey, I have been wrong before so we'll just have to wait and see...

  • Jolly_Armadillo #24 1 year ago

    "Civilians in an occupied country"

    Isn't that like half life 2s story? Genuine question, cos I think it is. But I may be wrong

  • nitx Verified Online Engineer, GameLoft #25 1 year ago

    Oh .. Is it January again ?? Time for ps3 only owners to come out and say "this is the year of the ps3" . Why dont you all grow up , work and get all 3 consoles. Killzone is an avg FPS and DC universe online isnt all that great. I would rather play the soon to go f2p Champions online. I am super psyched about UC3 though.

  • Machiavellian #26 1 year ago

    I think your missing the point behind the fan boys keyboard warrior rage of ps3 taking over the world (i'm a ps3 owner however i did enjoy having an xbox once a upon a time) there's a sense of disbelief that ms and thq seem to think that timed exclusive DLC is a winner for the consumer. which it isn't.

    It's a winner for MS consumers of Xbox 360 games. Any other consumer I am sure MS isn't concerned about. I am sure MS has crunch the numbers and thus far their investment in those limited exclusives has net them luracative amounts of cash where XBLA games and downloads not out pace gold subscription subs and leads to a billion dollar profit for the division.

    For the developer, its a win because it reduces the risk factor and investment of a game in a crowded genre.

  • Noble6 #27 1 year ago

    Game devs come out saying they're producing exclusive content for a platform as a result of the platform manufacturer's support. Eurogamer boards start flamming the manufacturer. Typical lol.

  • nitx Verified Online Engineer, GameLoft #28 1 year ago

    @27

    Its funny isnt it . Almost as funny as people blindly supporting West/Zampella/EA against Activision.

  • Machiavellian #29 1 year ago

    How can you fault the developer if a platform holder comes to you and say. Hey, we like what you are doing and what to invest in your game to make it better on our platform.

    Why turn down money when you already going into a crowded market. Sounds like a sound business plan because even though gamers do not understand that developing games is a business, you can bet the developers do when they do not get paid or laid off or their development studio closes because gamers did not want to take a risk.
    Edited by Machiavellian at 21/01/11 @ 20:08

  • makeamazing #30 1 year ago

    I see what THQ are doing, they probably went to both and said, give us money for exclusivity, while Sony are probably thinking, errrm dont want to bother right now because KZ3 is coming out around the same time (which is fair enough), MS did pay. I dont have any issues with MS paying for DLC.

    I will just look at this game and think, you know what, too many great games coming out this year, have too many great games still to play from last year, I cant be bothered with Exclusive DLC on a game that wasnt at the top of my list... i will just skip the game till later on in the year when its all included in one package. The way some of these companies are acting with DLC, exclusivity is really making me choose carefully which games i get earlier, or just leave a few months and wait for the inevitable drop in price. I think they need to understand, they are starting to shoot themselves in the foot.

  • Machiavellian #31 1 year ago

    @makeamazing
    I believe there is a very small percentage of people that base their buying decision on who gets DLC first or DLC period. If you want the game you are going to get it. If you do not really want the game, you probably was going to sit on it anyway.

  • jackdoe #32 1 year ago

    Haha. Sony was probably mute because Kaos actually failed to deliver a viable PS3 version of Frontline!

  • Hotel_Moscow #33 1 year ago

    treell you now realize most of the games on ps3 releasing this gen came out this gen other than socom ratchet twisted metal etc

    either way microsoft tends to rely on multiplatform games and a yearly release of halo or gears of war

  • DRUNK3N-_-DRAGON #34 1 year ago

    SONY STOOD MUTE LOL, because homefront looks a pile of harry fritters...fuck sake microsoft why not just buy sony & nintendo? fuck it just take over the world and have done with it you greedy money grubbing wankers..

  • sir_smooch #35 1 year ago

    its a shame that chaos studios describes ms paying them money for an exclusive "support" while sony offered them none. Maybe thats because sony thought that as you was a third party developer you may want to actually make your own game with your own financial backing otherwise they would have just made the game inhouse. I guess like many have said here already its just a case money making business and the bragging rights that go with it!! What a shame,im guessing by the comments kaos made this means the xbox version will be superior quality which isn't too bad as im fortunate to have both consoles.

  • TheEnforcer000 #36 1 year ago

    This site is full of whiny fucking cry babies.

  • makeamazing #37 1 year ago

    I believe there is a very small percentage of people that base their buying decision on who gets DLC first or DLC period. If you want the game you are going to get it. If you do not really want the game, you probably was going to sit on it anyway.

    @Machiavellian, maybe 12 months ago i would have agreed with you, but the market in terms of number of games, and the general work market in terms of recession and peoples available cash has drastically changed, but also the way some games market their DLC and amount has changed. Also the amount of games people have to play through has increased in many cases. I have probably about 6 major games to get through at the moment.

    For example seeing how much DLC came out for Dragon Age, I am now going to put off buying Dragon Age 2, because i want the game, but with all of those factors above, i dont see the point in buying a game that in 6 months time will have 6 DLC packs for it.

    So i guess what i am saying, for ME, these little things make a difference to how i buy games this year, of course i could be in the minority, but what a company does to support the main platform i use will ultimately make the decision if i buy earlier or leave it for my bargain bin list. Of course the company might want to take the money and run because the market is alittle risky right now, but i still think timed DLC and exclusive demos is not the way to go.

  • inutaihanyou #38 1 year ago

    Sony has done the same thing in the past for many games this generation. Is it only okay to complain when its Microsoft who is quite known to not have a particularly great first party base?

    Get over it babies, that's how it works.
    Edited by inutaihanyou at 22/01/11 @ 13:11

  • Gastrian #39 1 year ago

    Post deleted at 17:56:43 13-04-2012

  • makeamazing #40 1 year ago

    This site is full of whiny **** cry babies.

    To be honest this site is full of muppets who get all riled up when people have an opinion that isn't the same as theirs... seriously people are so precious... this is a gaming forum, if you don't like differing opinions then perhaps you should take up knitting or something.

  • sfp_noodle #41 1 year ago

    People who have been saying stuff like "MS announce their games later down the line, not all once," well we're into 2011 now and it looks like all they have is "exclusive" dlc which isn't exclusive at all. It's just timed to make sure other people don't get it. I find it sickening that the subscription fee I'm paying towards Live is going towards making sure other console owners don't get content instead of ensuring that we gut full-on exclusive titles.

    The Crysis 2 demo deal was pathetic on both MS and EA's part. MS for thinking it would really draw the PC players away and EA for not providing a demo to a sequel consoles never saw in the first place. Homefront looks generic and supremely average at present. I somehow doubt exclusive DLC will convince consumers its a game worth buying, for whichever platform.

  • Machiavellian #42 1 year ago

    The Crysis 2 demo deal was pathetic on both MS and EA's part. MS for thinking it would really draw the PC players away and EA for not providing a demo to a sequel consoles never saw in the first place. Homefront looks generic and supremely average at present. I somehow doubt exclusive DLC will convince consumers its a game worth buying, for whichever platform.

    Who is it to say what the thought process for the exclusive multiplayer demo but I doubt it's to temp PC players to play on the 360. This deal is simply something to add value for Gold XBL members. You are a gold member and you get to play a high profile multiplayer game on your system.

    As for Homefront, you or anyone here really do not know what the support that was given to the game and how it could have help the development. The fact that MS was willing to invest in the game probably means it's at a quality level where they feel confident about it's success. Judging from MS previous investments, they are quick to pull away if the game doesn't meet certain milestones so the fact that MS did provide help is actually make me more interested in the game then I would.

  • Machiavellian #43 1 year ago

    @Machiavellian as I recall they felt the same way about alan wake and hyped it to hell, and look where that got them, not to mention none of those milestones include quality just what they think will sell more, they would make the best game ever into crap if they thought it'd sell 10 copies that way

    If I judge from my own opinion of Alan Wake, it got them a very high quality game. It might not have been a game for everyone but I thoroughly enjoyed it so from my own personal experience what I say still stands. Evidently MS saw something about the game that was worth the investment. When the game comes out, we will see if that investment was worth it.

  • moozaad #44 1 year ago

    You're doing it wrong! It's not about publishers/console makers it's about [potential] customers. Stop pissing them off!

  • moozaad #45 1 year ago

    Also if MS approached you, shouldn't it be xbox360/Windows get priority releases? Windows is MS too... remember?

  • MyRedEdit #46 1 year ago

    anyone notice the ps3 trolls commenting on something that has little to do with them?

    in regards to 'this is a dumb startegy'
    i play 360, i pay for LIVE, i see i get an extra map for a game i like, it makes me happy :), i stop thinking about selling my xbox for ps3.

    i play 360 and ps3, i see exclusive map on 360, i buy for 360 for obvious reasons.

    how can you say that is a bad strategy? if you dont want the game then bully for you! lots do and they will be happier for it.