It looks as though Capcom may have hidden DLC characters for their upcoming game Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite within the in-game files, meaning that these characters will already be on physical versions of the game. Discovered by Z E F (@therealzef on Twitter) who datamined the recently-released story demo, finding a list of files for not only for characters in the base game, but also for DLC characters such as Black Panther and the Winter Soldier.
This isn’t Capcom’s first attempt at hiding on-disc DLC for their fighting games either. Back in 2011 Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 had Jill and Shuma locked behind a pay wall despite having both characters in full already included within the product fans paid for. They were also guilty of this in 2012 when fan-favourite characters such as Dudley and Bryan Fury were found alongside gems that gave in-game advantages during online play.
Due to this backlash Capcom made a statement back in 2012 addressing why they chose to include on-disc DLC, claiming that it allows for “easy compatibility for players who do and do not choose to download the characters when they arrive as DLC.” They also said that itt reduces file size of DLC downloads.
This is all well and good, but why is finished content cut away as DLC if it’s already on the disc? Is this really a practice meant to benefit players or a desperate cash grab on Capcom’s part, aiming to exploit an already agitated community of loyal fighting game players. What’s for sure is that this development sure doesn’t help out the game’s release, especially against the now revitalised fighting game genre which lacks these shady money grubbing tactics.
Source: Z E F
Connor Makar is a games journalist, Staff Writer at VG247 (Gamer Network / IGN Entertainment). They contributed 1 article to ICXM in 2017, focused on Windows and PC: received an MCV 30Under30 honourable mention in 2024.