Newzoo analyzed more than 1,600 DLCs released from April 2020 to April 2023.
General conclusions
- DLCs are responsible for 13% of all PC revenue and 7% of console revenue in 2022 in the US.
- On average, DLCs increase MAU by 11% on PC and consoles. However, the following month after the release, there was a decline from 2% to 13%, depending on the game size.
- Games of medium size (from 250k to 2M MAU at the moment of DLC release) are benefitting the most from new content – an increase by MAU is reaching 22%.
- Strategy games are in first place by MAU growth after the DLC release (+30.5%). RPG (+21.1%) and Simulation (+19.6%) are next.
The Sims 4 case study
- At the end of 2022, EA announced The Sims 4 transition to the F2P model. After a spike (+189% WAU) game WAU stabilized at +56% to the paid version numbers.
- EA launched the free Infant Update in March 2023, and two days after – paid Growing Together update. A combination of free and paid releases made Growing Together the most successful DLC in The Sims 4 history with WAU up by 16.7%.
Dead Cells case study
- The average MAU growth in the new DLC launches (company released 3) is 156%.
- The most successful DLC is “Return to Castlevania” – in March 2023 it boosted the MAU by 225%.
- The share of new users in the MAU in months of DLC release varies from 16% to 43%.
- Despite the large numbers by MAU growth, 87% of users haven’t returned to play the DLC.
