Still No Skyrim DLC for PS3 Users; Fans Livid

PlayStation 3 users get the shaft despite Sony and Microsoft reporting equal lifetime sales of the PS3 and Xbox 360, respectively, clocking in at 70 million units sold.

X-Box: 3 – PS3: 0

Bethesda has released the Skyrim 1.8 patch on the 360, along with beautiful preview screen shots from the upcoming Dragonborn expansion. Dragonborn, set for a December 4th release, marks the third Skyrim expansion offered to Xbox players, while PS3’ers wait in the wings for even their first round of DLC. 

Many players who bought the game for the PS3 are livid that the first expansion, Dawnguard, released over the summer for the 360 and PC, doesn’t even have an announced release date for the platform. Some have taken to posing on Bethesda message boards to express dissatisfaction with their business practices, claiming that the company doesn’t care about their base of customers who enjoy the game on Sony’s flagship.

Bethesda holds fast to the claim that there are technical complexities holding back the release of Dawnguard and cautiously warns fans that the project may never come to fruition, although they hope that they are close to resolving these issues.

Hell hath no fury like a gamer scorned

Nonetheless, fans have waged war: many are blasting Bethesda’s forums, and some are even calling for a boycott of future games.

I can’t say that I blame them, either. When you buy a game with the promise of further DLC, that’s something you’re paying for: initial content and DLC. To produce three expansions for one platform, and leave others ass-out does seem like crappy practice, and devalues the money that PS3’ers pumped in.

While the PlayStation 3 has historically lagged behind the 360 in U.S. sales, they are evening out, so Bethesda should be concerned with the growing numbers of frustrated fans. PS3’s technology has been available for ages now, and the devs should have had enough time to address possible kinks and work to iron them out before Skyrim’s release and the promise of these expansions.

Use your words

The least they owe the fanbase is clear communication with what’s going on. “Close,” and “We’ll let you know,” won’t cut it, as the community has shown. Give the fans some concise, straight-up idea of what’s going on and try to salvage what users you can.