2011 has had some key moments, and none where so dramatic as the ‘Rockstar Pass’ for L.A. Noire in May. It was soon cloned by Netherrealms if nothing more but proof and belief in the method of which games of the future are about to potentially change.

Someone who follows gaming as closely as myself simply saw it coming, the moment L.A. Noire’s DLC plan was revealed. That paved the way for future digital distribution; Activision in their belief to deliver a high quality product will evolve the gaming retail market, cementing physical retail product as a genuine resource, and almost stamping out ‘100% digital distribution’ of gaming products as the preferred resource.

With Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3’s Hardened Edition, fans will receive a code in brand new copies of the game for the entire year’s planned DLC, for “free” (it’s not, but they promote it as such thinking you are paying for the other things inside the package). Retailing at a UK price point of £80 (£79.99) you get a full year’s subscription to Call of Duty Elite premium service package with founder membership, and artbook, a steelbook casing of the game and a twelve month DLC package from day zero, no need to pay when it releases, and download at your leisure.

Over the course of 2012, developers & publishers will become well aware of the success and the additional percentages of sales Call of Duty content & map packs will inevitably receive. The reason can be summed up as simple one word: ‘convenience’.

If you have been on Xbox Live from the first year of its release you will have noticed how (with the exception of Ghost Recon) map packs before Call of Duty took over from Halo as the ‘King of Multiplayer Shooters’, prices plateau’d and became very acceptable at 800MSP per map pack, and is still a moderate standard of pricing across any game not ‘Call of Duty’.

The map pack argument of 1200 points for 5 maps is something even I have been vocal about. And to this day have never bought a single CoD map pack. The debate will still rage on so long as CoD continues to be the exception to the ‘rule’ as it where.

Soon however with MW3’s Hardened Edition the shape of retail gaming is going to change as you will soon see on shelves not just special editions with art book’s or quirky plastic figurines of characters from the game offered at an increased price range to help maximise profit for publishers and developers. Soon those versions alone will become a lesser version of itself without offering pre-purchased DLC codes.

Limited Edition used to genuinely mean something, until the profits from Halo 3 threw the margins out of proportion, and suddenly every game and it’s grandmother started receiving some kind of box claiming it was some kind of special ‘Edition’ at a marginal but increased price point over the basic retail version of the game at the very least.

Things have since simmered down, Limited Editions are still as prominent as they have been in recent years but the quality has been ever increasing. EA never seemed to go for the big push on special editions in terms of collectible memorabilia, and instead choosing the new buyer code route, which gave the consumer ‘DLC’ exclusive to them that could either never be purchased or redeemed in future if bought second-hand.

This seemed to stir a wave of criticism and rather than effecting tiny single pieces of armour, or a character has reached levels of locking out single player content in id’s forth coming RAGE that can never be played by retro gamers in decades ahead, to locking out multiplayer on like likes of Medal of Honor or Dead Space 2 on EA’s side of things at least. But this is no issue for the new purchaser, and only effects people purchasing second hand and lacks any sense of foresight once the DLC is no longer available in the years to come.

The solution it seems, (for a reasonable additional pricing) is here. As physical copies of games no longer need to lock out content entirely, (see: Capcom & 2K Games) as the codes of new copies can offer this content without fear of pre-owned sales destroying profit margins.In the past if a game has the bad version of DLC known as ‘Disc Locked Content’ gamers would rage, and did so when Street Fighter 4 did this, and BioShock 2’s first DLC’s where already there ready and waiting, and promoted as if it had been made post-production. Even Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed 2 was guilty of this ripping genuine content from the game which while not deemed a high priority to the games story was deemed underhanded and callous by the gamer community.

Soon all major game titles boasting ‘special edition’ will come with a redeemable code for future planned DLC at retail with a increased price tag that shouldn’t effect sale pricings as you will be buying the DLC and retailers passing on the profits directly. If anything, unwise store’s ordering too many copies will reach equilibrium. If they buy a regular game for sale at £35 to sell at £40 where they earn their profit, they need to sell four other copies of different games to make back what they lost on one single copy. Over ordering special editions at £80 due to DLC passes being included would see them level out on profits with pre-owned sales, and this seems to be the plan from a publisher’s side at least, as Quantic Dream reported £10 million losses on Heavy Rain due to pre-owned sales that saw only retailers receiving 100% of the profit recently.

Where is the bad news of this highly likely future of retail gaming for you, you might ask? Pre-made content or minimal DLC. It is an issue, and some evil/greedy company out there is going to do it, if the codes become the norm’ eventually. With trusted developer’s building Triple AAA titles, this won’t and can’t be an issue, and is most likely going to become the norm with those individual companies over time anyway. But depending on what comes with either a new IP or tacked on ‘special edition’ of a game in future will see a high price tag most likely at what will become the established price point and then deliver the equivalent of a character pack and horse armour; and that will be it.

The benefits of retail games offering these deals can be seen, and I think everyone interested in the sales margins will love to compare the previous sales of MW2 and Black Ops against MW3.

The leap of faith consumer’s must take if they want the premium version of a game that chooses to follow this path is large. But so long as full disclosure of what is to come in some respect, as to when the DLC is released, and how much of it is coming sets to pave the way for games of the future.

Digital download passes have proven to work, and established a clear interest amongst consumers, if it is the future of gaming only time will tell.

Do you question the price points of certain DLC still? Do you not see pre-purchasable DLC codes in retail packages as the future? What are your views on Limited Editions to begin with? Have you bought a pre-purchase DLC pass, if so what is your impression of such a feature? But more importantly do you think you would be more likely to buy a retail copy of a game at an increased but reasonable price and never need to worry about buying DLC in the future? Let me know what you think below.