Halo 5: Guardians will be trying something new to combat the problem of fractured online multiplayer communities. They’ll be making all of the DLC maps free. This news comes from the latest issue of Game Informer via NeoGaf, which did a deep dive on the highly anticipated first-person shooter.
According to the article, Halo 5: Guardians will launch with 20 multiplayer maps ready to go on the disc. Adding to these will be 15 additional DLC maps, which will be offered for free to all owners of the game.
So, why would 343 Industries and Microsoft be willing to release so much content for free? As mentioned before, it is the perfect method of avoiding a fractured community in the online multiplayer space.
Halo 2 began the trend of Halo games offering paid DLC maps, but at a certain point those map packs became available for free. After Halo 3 launched though this practice was abandoned, and maps had to be purchased, no matter how old they were. This ended up causing special playlists to form around the DLC maps, since not all players could be expected to own them.
Making them all free will completely end this problem, keeping all players on the same level as far as what content they own. Whenever a new map pack becomes available for free it can immediately be added to the online playlists, so that all players can enjoy them with as many others as possible.
