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Game Development vocabulary · Monetization & Live Ops

DLC

Meaning in game development, with examples

/ˌdiː el ˈsiː/abbreviationCore term

In game development, DLC means: Short for downloadable content: extra content released for a game after it comes out, such as new levels, characters, story chapters or costumes, often sold separately.

In Turkish: DLC, indirilebilir içerik, ek paket

How it is used

Said letter by letter: D-L-C. Large DLCs are called expansions. Publishers plan DLC in a season pass or roadmap, and players complain when content seems cut from the main game to be sold as day-one DLC.

Example sentences

  1. The first DLC adds a new region and about ten hours of story.

  2. We're keeping two artists on the team after launch to work on DLC.

Common collocations

  • release DLC
  • paid DLC
  • free DLC
  • DLC pack
  • season pass
  • monetizationThe way a game earns money from players, for example by selling the game itself, in-game purchases, subscriptions or ads.
  • patchAn update released for a game after launch that fixes bugs, improves performance, changes balance or adds small features.
  • live serviceA model in which a game is updated continuously for years after launch with new content, events and seasons, to keep players playing and spending.
  • microtransactionA small purchase made inside a game with real money, for example for a character skin, in-game currency or extra lives.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Monetization & Live Ops

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