Lightbox Interactive's Starhawk, which hit shelves in North America today, will, of course, have downloadable map packs for its multiplayer component. But, being somewhat of a contrarian, Starhawk's map packs will be free, according to Dylan Jobe, Lightbox Interactive's president, in a PlayStation Blog post.
He says the studio's previous title, Warhawk, experienced some division among its player base with each paid downloadable map pack released. For Starhawk, they'd like to keep that player base intact.
"There was a lot of discussion here at LightBox Interactive and Sony Santa Monica on how best to support the community and keep our player base all together as one cohesive group," wrote Jobe. "We are incredibly excited to announce that all map packs for Starhawk will be free... And we’ve already started the early stages of our next map pack for you guys."
That pack will include a map named Cypress, "a lush, swampy world" you can check out some concept art for by checking out the PlayStation Blog.
Jobe went on to say there would indeed be paid downloadable content for Starhawk, as well as the free map packs, but the paid DLC will be determined by fan feedback.
The free map packs sound like a great decision; I'll admit I'm one of those players who drops a game after a $10 or $15 map pack is dropped for it. It's definitely a nice, smart move by all parties involved that'll hopefully result in Starhawk's community remaining intact.
