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Pilgor: Come on, you. Cough up a buck, you cheap bastard. You bought the game on 75% off. I worked overtime for this!
Valentino: All right. Since I only paid 2.50 for the vanilla game, I'll buy the DLC. But normally I would never do this.
Pilgor: Never mind what you would normally do! This is Goat Simulator! Just buy the new damn DLC like everyone else!
— From the trailer to the PAYDAY 2 DLC for Goat Simulator

Downloadable content, or DLC, is video game data that is downloaded into the game that wasn't there originally. Examples include new levels, items, characters, and so forth. DLC was originally the exclusive domain of PC gaming, but every current game system now supports it. Downloadable content helps keep a game fresh and sometimes increases the replay value. It's generally small in size, so they are quick to download and install right away.

Of course, DLC also has some controversy attached to it. Many a dedicated and knowledgeable gamer may crack the game to see what is stored in the disc, and they won't be too happy if they see that the DLC they paid for was already in the game to begin with. Another issue DLC brings up is pricing. It is subjective what content is worth paying for, but some gamers in general fear that game developers may use DLC as a way to milk more money out of their consumers by rushing the game (thus making it filled with bugs or missing content) and then charging people to get the rest of the good stuff, or the existing stuff to work how it was supposed to. Some DLC is only available for a limited time or promotional events, meaning that people who come across a game later on are unable to purchase it. In other cases, DLC is only available in certain countries, making it impossible for people in other areas to get it at all. Also, DLC can often give a player a competitive advantage online, essentially forcing every player in the game to buy the DLC just to compete with other people who bought the DLC for exactly the same reason; see Bribing Your Way to Victory.

Downloadable content is also seen as a way of discouraging used game sales, since the person who buys the game used may have to pay again for the downloadable content or not be able to get it at all.

Of course, not all developers use DLC this way. Some do truly give brand new content without having to make people jump through hoops, and some even give these things away for no charge. At the same time though, some developers may force patches with new downloadable content and it may not sit well with people who don't want to upgrade their games from patching.

DLC has also been increasing the stakes in the Console Wars, as certain Multi-Platform games on consoles only have DLC exclusively on one console. In other cases, DLC is free on some platforms but at a premium on others. This can come as a Regional Bonus of sorts, although extended to consoles, as ports may come with DLC included that other consoles had to pay for.

With the exception of the PC, where the vast majority of all DLC is user-made content and therefore free, DLC is highly debated. These complaints can become especially pointed when modding tools are omitted, access to mods from other platforms is denied, or online server browsers lock out mods. Mixes with New Media Are Evil when you encounter people who think DLC in general is pure evil and that all companies only care about ripping off its consumers for their games. Backlashes within the gaming community often occur (regardless of the content of the actual DLC), in the forms of Accentuate the Negative, Broken Base, Unpleasable Fanbase, and many others are often seen when DLC is even discussed.

Compare Expansion Pack (which differs from DLC mostly in that physical distribution is the primary manner of acquiring it, although the line has been blurred with modern digital distributors selling expansions for old games in a downloaded format) and Unlockable Content (the content is already in the game, and just needs some form of challenge completed or in-game cost to acquire).

For products which are paid for and then downloaded in general see Digital Distribution.

For downloadable content that's only available for a limited time, see Temporary Online Content.


Examples:

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    A-G 
  • Ace Attorney:
  • The Animal Crossing series has these from Wild World onward. City Folk and New Leaf had/have free DLC roughly once a month—furniture, clothing for your character, or a pattern you can use for clothing/wallpaper/etc. It usually has something to do with the season (pile of leaves, election poster, snowman hat) or Nintendo (Wii locker, DS Lite chair, Animal Crossing anniversary cake). New Leaf ups the ante by having some items only be downloadable from special Nintendo Zone hotspots located in various stores, restaurants, etc. Live in a location without Nintendo Zones? Sucks to be you.
  • ANNO: Mutationem: The Mysterious Console DLC is a mini-storyline that takes place after the main story with Ayane, the deuteragonist, looking into a device holding the spirit of a girl called Noni to explore the roguelike dungeons.
  • ARMA II: Operation Arrowhead
    • British Armed Forces ("BAF"): Adds high-resolution textures and higher-quality sounds for BAF characters and weapons (see below) and a campaign.
    • Private Military Company ("PMC"): Adds high-resolution textures and higher-quality sounds for PMC characters (see below) and a campaign, the sequel to BAF.
    • As of patch v1.57, the "units" (characters) and weapons from both DLC packs were added to Operation Arrowhead with low-resolution textures and lower sound quality, so that player-made missions could make use of those characters and weapons without requiring that the mission creator or player have the DLC.
  • Assassin's Creed:
    • Assassin's Creed II
      • Sequence 12: The Battle of Forli
      • Sequence 13: Bonfire of the Vanities
      • There are two versions of Sequence 13: One with 3 Templar secret locations (originally exclusive to the Collector’s Edition), and one without.
    • Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood
      • Copernicus Conspiracy (PS3 only): Free, adds several single-player mission memories.
      • Animus Project Update 1.0: Free, adds a multiplayer mode (Advanced Alliance) and a new map (Mont St-Michel, day and nighttime versions); cannot be active at the same time as Animus Project Update 2.0.
      • Animus Project Update 2.0: Free, adds a multiplayer mode (Chest Capture) and a new map (Pienza, day and nighttime versions); cannot be active at the same time as Animus Project Update 1.0.
      • The Da Vinci Disappearance: Free on PC, paid on PS3 and Xbox 360; adds ten single-player missions (two were previously exclusive to collector's editions), two minigames, ten achievements/trophies, a new outfit (previously exclusive to Amazon.com pre-orders), two multiplayer modes (Assassinate and Escort), four multiplayer personas (Dama Rossa, Knight, Marquis and Pariah), and a new map (Alhambra).
    • Assassin's Creed: Revelations
      • Ancestors Character Pack (4 new multiplayer characters)
      • Mediterranean Traveller Map Pack (6 new multiplayer maps)
      • The Lost Archive (adds 2 new areas that explores the pasts of Lucy and Subject 16, plus some additional main game content, and 3 new multiplayer characters)
    • Assassin's Creed III
      • The Tyranny of King Washington, a multi-episode What If? single-player story set after the American Revolution
      • Two single-player weapon/skin Pre-Order Bonus packs, including the "Captain of the Aquila" and "Colonial Assassin" packs
      • Two Pre-Order Bonus single-player missions, including "Lost Mayan Ruins" (Gamestop) and "Ghost of War" (Best Buy)
      • The Benedict Arnold Missions, a PlayStation 3 exclusive set of four missions.
    • Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is rife with content packs, some of which were bundled together in a digital "Gold Edition":
      • Aveline Pack, an extra mission featuring the protagonist of Assassin's Creed III: Liberation.
      • Black Island Pack, which includes a treasure-hunting mission, an additional ship and armor set.
      • Captain Kenway's Legacy Pack, which includes golden scimitars for single-player and an extra multiplayer costume.
      • Crusader and Florentine Pack, which gives additional ship customization options based on the colors of the first two games. An additional customization pack, Death Vessel, was released soon after.
      • Hidden Mystery Pack, which includes an additional treasure-hunting mission, an additional ship and costume, and extra multiplayer models.
      • Pirates Bounty Pack, which includes additional weapons and relics.
      • Sacrificed Secrets Pack, which includes an additional treasure-hunting mission, an additional weapon/costume and extra relics.
      • The Season Pass, which includes a Kraken Pack (additional ship customization options inspired by sea monsters), a single-player expansion featuring Edward's first-mate as the protagonist and additional multiplayer characters.
      • Several "Time Saver" packs that remove the requirements to unlock certain types of upgrades in the game.
  • Asura's Wrath
    • Episode 11.5, an episode that takes place between episodes 11 and 12, animated by Studio 4°C.
    • Episode 15.5, another episode similar to the one above; takes place between episodes 15 and 16.
    • Part IV: Nirvana, which contains the last four episodes (19-22).
    • Lost Episodes 1 and 2, which are crossovers with Street Fighter.
  • Bastion has Stranger's Dream, which adds an additional trip to Who Knows Where in New Game Plus. It also adds a Score Attack Mode and No-Sweat Mode (easy mode).
  • Batman: Arkham Asylum
    • Play As The Joker Challenge Map (free, PS3 only).
    • Insane Night Challenge Map Pack (2 free new challenge maps)
    • Prey In The Darkness Map Pack (2 free new challenge maps)
    • Crime Alley Challenge Map
    • Dem Bones Challenge Map
  • Batman: Arkham City:
    • The Catwoman DLC, which shows the events of the game through Selina Kyle's perspective, along with alternate costumes for her. Also included extra challenge maps. Included free in new copies of the game, and available to buy separately otherwise.
    • The Nightwing DLC, which unlocks Dick Grayson for use in the game's challenge maps, and includes alternate costumes and two additional maps (Wayne Manor and Main Hall).
    • The Robin Pack, which unlocks Tim Drake for use in the game's challenge maps, and includes alternate costumes and two additional maps (Black Mask and Freight Train).
    • Batman Incorporated skin, released for free on all platforms.
    • The Skins Pack, which includes all alternate skins (previously pre-order bonuses) for Batman, including 1970's, Year One, Batman Beyond, The Dark Knight Returns, Sinestro Corps and Animated Series.
    • The Challenge Map Pack, which includes the Pre-Order Bonus maps Joker's Carnival and Iceberg Lounge, and a new map (Batcave).
    • Harley Quinn's Revenge, the final (story-based) DLC, which has Batman and Robin heading into the soon-to-be-decommissioned Arkham City to stop Harley Quinn from enacting a revenge plot. This expansion, and all of the prior DLC, was included on the Game of the Year edition.
  • Batman: Arkham Origins:
    • The Deathstroke DLC, which allows players to control the titular assassin in two challenge maps. Given as a pre-order bonus for all copies of the game.
    • The Black Mask DLC, which includes two challenge maps based around the mobster.
    • The Knightfall DLC, which includes 1960's (Adam West) Batman and Azrael (Knightfall) costumes and several challenge maps. Exclusive to the PS3 version.
    • The Legends Pack, which includes 6 additional costumes for Batman.
    • The Season Pass DLC includes 5 separate content packs:
      • New Millennium Skins Pack, which includes 6 alternate skins for Batman and Robin.
      • Infinite Earths Skins Pack, which includes 6 alternate skins inspired by the 80's comic series.
      • The exclusive Gotham By Gaslight and Brightest Day skins for Batman.
      • Initiation, a set of challenge maps that show a pre-Batman Bruce Wayne learning from his mentor, Kirigi.
      • The Cold, Cold Heart story DLC.
  • Batman: Arkham Knight:
    • Several character/vehicle skin packs, many of which were timed exclusives and later included in the Season Pass:
      • A 1st Appearance Batman skin was included for anyone who purchased the Amazon-exclusive Serious Edition.
      • The Anime Batman skin (based off Batman: Gotham Knight) is available for anyone who signed up for a WBPlay account and connected it to the game.
      • The Batmobile '66 skin, available as a PS4-exclusive bonus.
      • The Classic TV Series / Justice League 3000 skin pack, which was originally a PS4-exclusive.
      • The Earth 2 skin was originally available as a redeemable code only to participants at the 2015 Playstation E3 Experience.
      • The Gotham's Future skin pack included two alternate costumes for Batman ("Batman Beyond" and "The Dark Knight Returns") for anyone who preordered the game through Steam.
      • The New 52 skin pack, which was included for anyone who purchased the Limited or Batmobile retail versions of the game.
      • A Prototype Batmobile vehicle skin, which was given to players who preordered the game at Wal-Mart.
    • The Harley Quinn Story Pack, a (previously) Pre-Order Bonus mini-campaign that takes place before the events of the game, and has Harley going to Bludhaven to free Poison Ivy from a local jail.
    • The Red Hood Story Pack, a (previously) mini-campaign that takes place after the events of the game, and sees Red Hood/Jason Todd cleaning up the remnants of Black Mask's crime syndicate.
    • The Scarecrow Nightmare Pack was a (previously) PS4-exclusive content pack that featured additional Scarecrow challenge maps.
    • The Season Pass delivered content over a period of six months, including:
      • Batgirl: A Matter of Family, a prequel campaign that takes place prior to the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum and has Barbara Gordon (Batgirl) and Tim Drake (Robin) infiltrating an abandoned amusement park to rescue Commissioner Gordon from the clutches of Joker and Harley Quinn.
      • Season of Infamy, four Most Wanted missions that deals with Batman having to take on four extra villains invading Gotham City.
      • Arkham Episodes, a series of short missions that take place both during and after Arkham Knight, and focus on Batman's sidekicks and allies. Includes Catwoman's Revenge, GCPD Lockdown and A Flip of a Coin.
      • Six Crimefighter Challenge Map Packs, Batmobile racetracks and alternate Batmobile/Batman skins (including the exclusive Flashpoint skin, the ''1989 suit/Batmobile and alternate skins for Robin, Nightwing and Catwoman).
    • The Waynetech Booster pack was included for anyone who preordered the game through Best Buy, and allows early access to four abilities acquired throughout the game.
  • Battlefield 3
    • Physical Warfare Pack: Several weapons and their attachments for use in multiplayer. Previously a preorder bonus, but now free to download.
    • Back to Karkand: Comes with four of the most popular maps from Battlefield 2 (Wake Island, Gulf of Oman, Sharqi Peninsula, and Strike at Karkand) remade in the Frostbite 2 engine and adds ten new weapons and three new vehicles from Battlefield 2. Free for owners of the Limited Edition. Released on December 14, 2011.
    • Close Quarters: An expansion focused on close quarters combat. The maps take place mostly within building interiors, with an emphasis of cover and walls being shot to small pieces. Release Date: June 2012
    • Armored Kill: Big, open maps with plenty of new vehicles to take advantage of it, such as mobile artillery. Boasts having the "biggest map in Battlefield history." Released in late 2012.
    • End Game: The final multiplayer expansion, released in early 2013.
  • Beautiful Katamari
    • Four different sets of Presents
    • Four different sets of Cousins
    • Special Accessory (which can also be unlocked by getting 100% Collection)
    • 7 new levels (all bought separately)
  • BEMANI games on iOS and Android thrive on DLC. jubeat plus / jukebeat, REFLEC BEAT Plus, and pop'n rhythmin all start with three free starter songs. Each game has a plethora of four-song packs, with their respective Japanese versions charging 500 yen per pack and international versions (except for rhythmin, which is Japan-only) charging 4.99 USD.
  • BioShock only has one add-on regardless of system: Ryan Industries Plasmids and Gene Tonics (Xbox 360 and PC), or Challenge Rooms (PS3).
  • BioShock 2:
    • Sinclair Solutions Pack (expands multiplayer)
    • Kill 'em Kindly (free, adds a game mode for multiplayer)
    • Rapture Metro (adds 6 new maps for multiplayer; also contains Kill 'em Kindly)
    • Zigo and Blanche (characters for multiplayer)
    • The Protector's Trials (challenges where you must protect Little Sisters with unique weapon and Plasmid load-outs)
    • Minerva's Den (3 new levels, a new main character, and reveals what happened to Tenenbaum)
  • BioShock Infinite:
    • Clash in the Clouds (wave arena mode)
    • Burial at Sea (2 episodes, separate campaign in previous games' locale, 2nd episode features playable Elizabeth)
  • BlazBlue: Continuum Shift:
  • Blue Dragon:
    • Ultra Hard Mod, which unlocks the Hard and Impossible difficulties, the latter of which cannot be beaten without New Game Plus.
    • 6 Treasures, which adds 6 new items.
    • Shuffle Dungeon, a randomized Bonus Dungeon that’s only accessible near the end of the game.
  • Borderlands:
    • The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned (New questline)
    • Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot (Arena, item storage)
    • The Secret Armory of General Knoxx (New questline, raises level cap by 11)
    • Claptrap's Robot Revolution (New questline)
    • In addition to these, there was also a free patch which increased the level cap by 8.
  • Borderlands 2:
    • Collector's Edition Pack: Originally found in the Collector's Edition, it includes special heads/skins for the four playable characters and an additional weapon, the Contraband Sky Grenade.
    • Creature Slaughterdome: Adds a new arena to fight in, as well as an extra weapon for completing it.
    • Headhunter Packs: Five short additional missions which focus on various bounties and give character heads/skins as rewards, including:
      • T.K. Baha's Bloody Harvest
      • The Horrible Hunger of the Ravenous Wattle Gobbler
      • How Marcus Saved Mercenary Day
      • Mad Moxxi and the Wedding Day Massacre
      • Sir Hammerlock vs. the Son of Crawmerax
    • Mechromancer Pack: Originally a Pre-Order Bonus, adds a new playable character named Gaige.
    • Premiere Club: A DLC pack that was available as a Pre-Order Bonus, and includes the aforementioned Mechromancer Pack, the Gearbox Gunpack, a Golden Key and a unique item, the Vault Hunter's Relic.
    • Psycho Pack: Introduces the sixth playable character, Krieg the Psycho.
    • Season Pass: Includes four DLC campaigns and a level cap increase:
      • Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty
      • Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage
      • Sir Hammerlock's Big Game Hunt
      • Tiny Tina's Assault on Dragon Keep
      • Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack (Level cap increase, additional New Game Plus, new weapon tier)
    • Ultimate Vault Hunter Upgrade Pack 2: Assault on Digistruct Peak: Increases the level cap by 11, adds new legendary gear and a new challenge map for high-level players.
    • Several sets of paid DLC character heads/skins, including the Domination, Madness and Supremacy packs for all characters.
    • Many codes that can be redeemed for signing up for a Gearbox SH!FT account, and which reward players with Golden Keys, class mods and several sets of character heads/skins, including Loverpalooza Valentine's Day Skins, Luck of the Zalford Skins and Spooky Character Skins.
  • Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel!:
    • Handsome Jack Doppleganger Pack: Introduces the first DLC character: Handsome Jack's body double.
    • The Holodome Onslaught: An arena challenge in which the player fights several waves of endgame enemies. Bumps the level cap up by 10.
    • Lady Aurelia the Baroness Pack: Introduces the second DLC character: Lady Aurelia Hammerlock.
    • Claptastic Voyage: A DLC campaign that bumps the level cap by 10.
  • Brink!:
    • Agents of Change (raises the level cap by 4, adds a new ability for each class, and achievements that involve those abilities)
    • Doom/Psycho Combo Pack (additional character customization options)
    • Fallout/SpecOps Combo Pack (additional character customization options)
  • Bulletstorm:
    • Gun Sonata (2 new Echoes maps, 3 new Anarchy maps, 2 new leash variants)
    • Blood Symphony (2 new Echoes maps, 3 new Anarchy maps)
  • Burnout Paradise was still updating DLC until two years after the game had come out, and many free updates for things that were planned that didn't make it, including:
    • Bikes (complete with a set of bike missions).
    • Extra cars, including some custom versions of already existing vehicles, and some toy versions (think smaller cars), and a few Lawyer-Friendly Cameo versions of famous cars.
    • Two new game play modes, Cops & Robbers (complete with cop skins for each car in the game), and a local multiplayer party mode.
    • An entirely new island route, with nine extra cars, many extra online missions, and more new missions for both bikes and cars.
  • Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare:
    • Variety Map Pack: 4 new multiplayer maps (free on PC)
    • Winter Crash: Christmas-themed version of the "Crash" multiplayer level (PC version only)
  • Call of Duty: World at War:
    • Map Packs 1 through 3: each contain three new multiplayer maps and one new Nazi Zombies map. Can be purchased separately or in a bundle on consoles; free on PC version.
    • Makin Day bonus map (Free daytime version of Makin)
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2: Stimulus and Resurgence Packs: each contain two ported multiplayer maps from the first Modern Warfare in addition to three entirely new maps.
  • Call of Duty: Black Ops:
    • First Strike, Escalation, and Annihilation packs: each has 4 multiplayer maps and 1 Zombie map
    • Rezurrection pack: ports of the original World at War Zombies maps, plus a new "Moon" map; free for preorders, which already came with the original maps
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 had several multiplayer packs released early through Activision's Call of Duty: Elite service for subscribers, and later in larger collections for non-subscribers, including:
    • Content Collection 1, which includes two Spec Ops missions and four new maps (Liberation, Piazza, Overwatch, Black Box).
    • Content Collection 2, which includes two Spec Ops missions, three new maps (Foundation, Sanctuary, Oasis) and two Face Off missions.
    • The Chaos Pack, which includes a Special Ops Chaos mode, new Special Ops missions and three new Face Off maps.
    • The Final Assault Pack, which includes five new maps.
  • Call of Dooty mocks the concept of DLC by sticking the player with a pistol and a shotgun for most of the game (which is a mod of Doom, and thus more than capable of giving the player more firepower,) and leaving more powerful weapons lying around that they can pick up, but not use, without purchasing fictional DLC. There's also an ominous-looking, out-of-place door in level 3 that the player can't enter without purchasing the "Tomb of Doom" DLC.
  • Cities: Skylines drew a lot of flak from the player base for locking SimCity-style disasters behind a quite expensive DLC, whereas even Electronic Arts weren't so shameless as to leave such a genre-staple feature out of SimCity (2013)'s base game.
  • Control had two unrelated packs of story DLC released over the course of 2020:
    • The Foundation has Jesse dive into the once forgotten depths of the Oldest House to save the FBC, learning more about the organization’s history and connection to the building along the way.
    • AWE has Jesse led to the the abandoned Investigations Sector of the FBC, stalked by the monstrous 'Third Thing' while she uncovers the past of the mysterious Missing Parautilitarian.
  • Costume Quest has Grubbins on Ice, a Christmas-themed expansion.
  • Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy
  • Cuphead features a DLC campaign called "The Delicious Last Course", featuring a new storyline, a new island, new bosses, new weapons, new charms, a new playable character, and more.
  • Cyberpunk 2077: Several DLCs release include new outfits and weapons for V, additional missions and vehicles, alongside content based on Cyberpunk: Edgerunners.
  • Dance Central: Both games have downloadable songs.
  • Dark Souls:
    • Dark Souls has the Prepare To Die Edition, an Updated Re-release for the PC. The new content from the PC version available for the console version as Downloadable Content.
    • Dark Souls II has three DLC packs, referred to as the "Lost Crowns Trilogy". There is also a free DLC containing the story bits from the Updated Re-release, known as Scholar of the First Sin.
    • Dark Souls III has two DLC packs, namely Ashes of Ariandel and the Ringed City. An Updated Re-release, known as The Fire Fades is on the works.
  • Dawn of War II: Retribution is the first installment in the series to include DLC for later purchase. Already two has been released, an extra items goodie for the Orks and an actual visual makeover for the Space Marines to include a fully represented Dark Angels chapter, with their unique dress styles and iconography included as an alternative to the standard vanilla space marine styles. This may also mean that several other chapters, such as the Space Wolves and the Blood Angels will get similar DLCs for the game at a future date.
  • Dead Island:
    • Bloodbath Arena (game mode where you Hold the Line against endless waves of zombies; comes with a leaderboard and supports up to four players)
    • Ryder White (short, single-player only character campaign)
  • Dead Rising has 12 separate keys that unlock additional clothing that Frank can wear.
    • Dead Rising 2 has 4 different Skill Packs (Ninja, Psycho, Sports Fan, and Soldier), which grant a bonus for wearing the whole set. They were all Pre-Order Bonuses until a month or 2 after release.
    • Dead Rising 2: Off the Record also has 4 Skill Packs (BBQ Chef, Cosplay Warrior, Firefighter, and Cyborg). There's also the GAMEBREAKER Pack, which allows you to (among other things) adjust time, make weapons unbreakable, turn on God Mode, and grant super speed.
    • Dead Rising 3 featured 4 different DLC campaigns where you play as four different characters, two of which are bosses faced by Nick. There's also the "Super Ultra Dead Rising 3 Arcade Remix Hyper Edition EX Plus Alpha" DLC, which is a multiplayer-focused mode where you play as Nick, Kate, Frank and Chuck (as well as multiple costumes for each) and compete in various arcade-inspired challenges.
  • Dead Space featured numerous examples of this:
    • The Astronaut Pack, which includes an orange/red suit and alternate weapon skins for the Plasma Cutter, Pulse Rifle and Ripper.
    • The Big Gun Pack, which includes the Steampunk Force Gun (which offers upgraded damage).
    • The Elite Pack (Xbox 360 exclusive), which includes a black-and-white suit and alternate weapon skins for the Line Gun, Plasma Cutter and Pulse Rifle.
    • The Heavy Damage Pack, which includes more-powerful versions of the Contact Beam, Plasma Cutter, Pulse Rifle and Ripper
    • The Hot Rod Pack, which includes alternate weapon skins for the Flamethrower and Pulse Rifle.
    • The Military Pack, which includes a white suit and more-powerful versions of all eight weapons.
    • The Obsidian Pack (PlayStation 3 exclusive), which includes a black-and-blue skin and alternate weapon skins for the Line Gun, Plasma Cutter and Pulse Rifle.
    • The Pedestrian Pack, which includes gold-and-red weapon skins for the Contact Beam, Plasma Cutter and Ripper.
    • The Scorpion Pack, which includes a black-and-red suit and upgraded versions of the Force Gun, Line Gun and Plasma Cutter.
    • The Speed Kills Pack, which includes alternate weapon skins and upgraded speed for the Force Gun, Line Gun and Plasma Cutter.
    • The Tank Pack, which includes the most powerful suit in the game (featuring a 60% increase in damage resistance) and upgraded versions of the Flamethrower, Force Gun and Line Gun.
  • Dead Space 2:
    • The Collector's Edition comes with a code to download an exclusive Zealot Suit and matching Zealot Force Gun.
    • The Hazard Pack, which includes the Hazard Engineering Suit (and matching Line Gun), Shockpoint Advanced Suit (and matching Ripper) and Triage Security Suit (and matching Javelin Gun).
    • The Martial Law Pack, which includes the Bloody Vintage Suit and EarthGov Security Suit (and six matching weapons).
    • Outbreak, a multiplayer pack that includes two new maps (The Academy and Concourse).
    • Severed, a sidestory that follows up on the events of Dead Space: Extraction, seen from the perspective of that game's main character, Gabe Weller.
    • The Supernova Pack, which includes the Agility Advanced Suit, Forged Engineering Suit and Heavy-Duty Vintage Suit (and matching versions of all weapons).
  • Dead Space 3:
    • The First Contact and Witness The Truth Packs (which contained two new suits and two new weapons) were included with the Limited Edition, but were also sold separately.
    • The Marauder Pack, which includes the Marauder Suit and AL-9 Clearcutter.
    • The Sharpshooter Pack, which includes the Sharpshooter Suit and SMP-90.
    • The Tundra Recon Pack, which includes the Tundra Recon Suit and Aegis VII Survivalist,
    • The EG-900 SMG and Tesla Enervator weapons, which were originally pre-order bonuses.
    • Several pieces of DLC for the Scavenger Bot, including a Bot Capacity Upgrade, Bot Accelerator (speeds up harvesting time) and Bot Personality Pack (which gives the bots British accents).
    • Three weapons obtained from codes found on packages of Slim Jims (Broadbow Arc Cutter, EL 1 Rapido and the Skewer).
    • Several Resource Packs, available in two varieties (Ultra or Epic Weapon and Resource Pack).
    • Awakened, a story DLC that takes place after the main campaign, and follows Isaac and Gabe as they figure out what happened with the Marker Signal and try to make their way to Earth.
  • Deus Ex: Human Revolution:
    • Tactical Enhancement Pack (Double-Barrel Shotgun, Silenced Sniper Rifle, 10,000 Credits) - originally a Pre-Order Bonus.
    • Explosive Mission Pack (Tong's Rescue Bonus Mission, Grenade Launcher, Remote-Detonated Explosive Device, Automatic Unlocking Device) - originally a Pre-Order Bonus.
    • The Missing Link (seperate scenario that takes place towards the end of the game, specifically between the last hub world and the penultimate mission)
  • Deus Ex: Mankind Divided had a number of DLCs, many of which were bundled in an optional Season Pass package:
    • The Assault Pack includes a reskinned Battle Rifle, several packs of ammunition and weapon parts and a Praxis Kit.
    • The Tactical Pack includes a reskinned Tranquilizer Rifle, ammunition, non-lethal grenades, a Micro Assembler Aug and a Praxis Kit.
    • Desperate Measures, a Pre-Order Bonus DLC that has Adam Jensen investigating the circumstances behind the bombing that opens the game, and learning more about the culprit behind it. It was subsequently made available as a free download.
    • The Season Pass itself includes 4 Praxis Kits, 5000 Credits, several Booster Packs for the Breach multiplayer mode and two additional story DLCs - A Criminal Past and System Rift.
  • On July 7, 2022, Dicey Dungeons Reunion was released as free DLC for the vanilla game. It adds six new episodes for each contestant along with new music, art, equipment, and gameplay.
  • Disgaea 3: Absence of Justice:
    • Every playable character not already included from the previous two Disgaea games and even some that weren't playable back then.
    • Removed monster classes Nekomata and Dragon added back and playable from the beginning of the game.
    • Lord Zetta and Pram, main characters from Makai Kingdom. King Drake the Third also appears as a teacher as a bonus for buying the complete DLC pack and while he's in your base, he'll increase the stat growth of your characters upon leveling up.
    • Several characters from other Nippon Ichi games.
    • Four additional chapters starring Raspberyl as the main character. Upon clearing those the player is rewarded with two bonus weapons, new skills for a handful of characters and the final story boss becomes a playable caharacter.
    • Three "turn attack" modes that unlock Aramis and removed class Angels for creation.
    • A ludicrously hard battle against three Tyrant Baal. Fail to kill all of them in one turn and more Baals appear. If you drag the match for too long Chaos Soldiers will appear and fuse with Baal becoming almost invincible.
  • Disgaea 4: A Promise Unforgotten:
    • Downloadable Characters: For the North American release, Fallen Angel Flonne can be obtained by preordering from either NISA store or Gamestop. Aside from her, you have Adell, Rozalin, HD Asagi (Free in the U.S.), Overlord Priere, Mao, Kyoko, Asuka, Pink, Main Hero B, Pleinair, Prism Red, Gig, Pram, Petta, Nisa, Marona, Ash, Hugo, Des X, Nemo, King Krichevskoy, and Pirohiko. Some of these characters also come with classes from the previous games like the Deathsabers, the Celestial Hosts, and the Kunoichi. Finally, two new classes—a Medic class (Designed by Noizi Ito) and a Necromancer class (Designed by Kohaku Kuroboshi)—have been added.
    • Downloadable Modes: There will be two downloadable scenarios similar to the Disgaea 3's Raspberyl Mode. The first will take place before the main game and feature Valvatorez during his days as a Tyrant—which will include an alternate version of Valvatorez (Tyrant Valvatorez, similar to Fallen Angel Flonne). The second will focus on Fuka, Desco and Prinny reincarnation. In addition, there will be added gameplay modes like Tournament Mode and Survival Mode.
    • Extra: Finally, with each character release, there will downloadable ship parts for your pirate ship and stage maps for both the map creator and the hub. Also, a bonus boss against the original Baal.
  • Dishonored:
    • Dunwall City Trials: Various challenges missions that focus on either combat, movement, stealth or using your powers.
    • The Knife of Dunwall and The Brigmore Witches: Two DLC missions that cast you as Daud, Corvo's Evil Counterpart.
  • DLC Quest deconstructs this idea. The game has no actual DLC (you don't actually have to give away your own money), but all of the game constitutes of DLC which can be bought with in-game coins. Even the ability to move left is DLC.
  • Doom and Doom II: The 2019 suite of Unity ports received an update that allows players to download curated mods for these games for free through Bethesda.net, such as both halves of Final Doom for both games, Sigil for Doom, and No Rest for the Living for Doom II with other mods added through content updates.
  • Dragon Age: Origins:
    • Warden's Keep (adds a quest, and a storage chest)
    • The Stone Prisoner (adds an additional party member, plus quests relating to said party member)
    • Return to Ostagar (adds a quest)
    • Awakening (expansion; raises level cap and adds a new, shorter campaign set after Origins)
    • Feastday Gifts and Pranks (gifts for party members; the former raises your Relationship Values, and the latter lowers it)
    • The Darkspawn Chronicles (What If? scenario where you play as a Darkspawn during the finale of Origins)
    • Leliana's Song (short quest that takes place before Origins and serves as Leliana’s backstory)
    • Golems of Amgarrak (short quest which takes place after Origins and Awakening but before Witch Hunt)
    • Witch Hunt (short quest detailing the whereabouts of Morrigan after Origins)
  • Dragon Age II:
    • The Black Emporium (shop with better, more expensive items; also gives the player character a dog as a summonable ally)
    • The Exiled Prince (adds an additional party member and his quest chain)
    • Legacy (quest outside the main game, playable from any point in the story after the prologue)
    • Mark of the Assassin (quest outside the main game, playable from any point in the story after the prologue, with a Guest-Star Party Member)
    • Two sets of item packs. Each set has a Warrior, Rogue, and Mage item pack, which can either be purchased separately or in a bundle.
  • Dragon Age: Inquisition:
    • The Jaws of Hakkon (quest outside the main game, playable from any point after the Inquisition moves to Skyhold, involving the Avvar tribes of Ferelden)
    • Dragonslayer (multiplayer DLC that adds a new map and three new characters - including Isabela)
    • Spoils of the Avvar (Avvar-themed armour, mounts and Skyhold decorations)
    • The Black Emporium (lets the player revisit the aforementioned shop)
    • Spoils of the Qunari (Qunari-themed armour, mounts and Skyhold decorations)
    • The Descent (quest outside the main game, playable from any point after the Inquisition moves to Skyhold, which takes place in the Deep Roads)
    • Trespasser (the final story DLC, a true expansion that takes place two years after the Final Battle).
  • Dragon Ball Xenoverse: Every DLC so far has added new missions, playable characters, costumes, special attacks, Z-Souls, and mentor characters. The preparatory patches also tweak the gameplay by Nerfing broken attacks and Z-Souls, patching bugs, etc.
    • Day One Edition, which isn't actually a Pre-Order Bonus but rather an alternate edition of the game, adds Super Saiyan 4 Vegeta as a playable character and gives the player special gold and crystal versions of the Saiyan battle armor.
    • GT Pack 1, which adds content based on the Baby and Super Android 17 Sagas and the ability to train under Yamcha and Tien Shinhan.
    • GT Pack 2, which adds content based on the Shadow Dragon Saga, the ability to train under Pan, and makes the game's villains Mira and Towa playable. It also raised the Level Cap from 80 to 85.
    • Resurrection «F» Movie Pack is based on the upcoming movie Dragon Ball Z: Resurrection 'F', and will make some of the pre-order content (namely Jaco the Galactic Patrolman and the Master Roshi costume) available to all players.
  • Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 also has DLC that adds new playable characters/trainers, moves and other content.
    • DLC Pack 1 adds Frost and Cabba from Dragon Ball Super.
    • DLC Pack 2 adds Vados and Champa, the "Universe 6 tournament" arc for the story mode and the stage "Nameless Planet".
    • DLC Pack 3 adds Goku Black (SSJ Rosé) and Zamasu from Super and Bojack.
    • DLC Pack 4 adds the characters Fused Zamasu and Vegito Blue, the "Goku Black" arc for the story mode and the stage "Future Earth".
  • Dragon Quest IX:
    • Extra Quests, and Special Guests at the Inn (who give you cosplay gear).
    • Notable in that it is not only free, but automatically given to the player when connecting to the online shop if they are available.
  • Dungeon Defenders: a lot. Seriously, a lot. Check Steam. Half the game is DLC. Most of it is surprisingly cheap ($1/$2) and some of it (like the Capture the Flag mode) is even free.
  • Duke Nukem Forever:
    • Hail to the Icons Parody Pack: Several new game modes and new maps for multiplayer.
    • The Doctor Who Cloned Me: New singleplayer campaign. Also comes with four new multiplayer maps.
  • Dynasty Warriors 6 Empires: Extra wardrobe options for the Edit Officer mode, as well as nine bonus music tracks from the original Dynasty Warriors Fighting Game. In an awesome move on Koei's part, all of it is absolutely free.
  • The Elder Scrolls:
    • Morrowind, in addition to offering two full-fledged Expansion Packs in Tribunal and Bloodmoon, also features several small pieces of DLC which are offered for free on the official site. These include several rare armor pieces and weapons (Area Effect Arrows, Helm of Tohan, LeFemm Armor, and Adamantium Armor), two mini-quests (Master Index and Siege at Firemoth), and an ambient sounds pack.
    • Oblivion:
      • Several small DLC packs allow players to control/build a homestead related to their class, including the Fighter's Stronghold, Orrery, Thieves' Den, Vile Lair, and Wizards' Tower. All of these packs include new areas to explore, upgrades for the various properties, and unique items to find.
      • Horse Armor, which allows Elven or Steel plate armor to be added to any horse in-game. Originally cost $10, and is one of the more prominent examples of useless DLC.
      • Knights of the Nine, an official Expansion Pack that includes a quest to find nine relics in a new region.
      • Mehrunes' Razor, a mini-quest involving the search for the eponymous Daedric artifact.
      • Shivering Isles, an official expansion that introduces a new region, questline, and many new items, artifacts, and characters.
      • Spell Tomes, which adds hundreds of spell-giving books throughout the game world.
    • Skyrim:
      • A free high-texture pack.
      • Fall of the Space Core, Vol. 1, created in partnership with Valve Software and released through the Steam Workshop, adds the titular core from Portal 2 to the game.
      • Dawnguard, the first major expansion pack, which drops the player in the middle of a war between the Dawnguard and a group of ancient vampires. This also results in the addition of new locations on the map. A few sidequests unrelated to the aforementioned storyline are added as well.
      • Hearthfire, which allows the player to build a custom house from scratch and allows them to adopt children.
      • Dragonborn, a questline involving the player returning to Solstheim to confront a mysterious Dragon Priest, along with the ability to ride dragons.
  • Eternal Sonata has the Piano Key, which unlocks the Chopin piano pieces...which can also be unlocked by simply progressing through the game.
  • Etrian Odyssey: A few games, such as The Fafnir Knight and Beyond the Myth, have received small pieces of DLC based on extra customization options, quests and other small features. The Fafnir Knight went a little further by also adding an extra floor to the Bonus Dungeon, which features Legacy Boss Battles against series-veteran opponents and a new Superboss called Ur-Devil.
  • Europa Universalis, as well as its counterparts in different eras, are essentially built on a business model of constant DLC. Instead of a new game, the developers continuously patch the game and release new content as DLC. This has drawn criticism, however, especially for those who see it as paying for bug fixes or features that should have been in the original.
  • Evolve has two new monsters, two new tiers of hunters, and various skins to buy. The Broken Hill maps, Observer mode, Arena mode, certain community skins, and all character adaptations are released to players for free.
  • Fable II has Knothole Island and See the Future. There are "Free" and "Premium" versions of both DLC. Free means you obtain some of the items from the new areas, but you're unable to actually go there. That's where the Premium version comes in.
  • Fable III DLC is mostly comprised of various items, but there are also two Quest Packs: Understone, and Traitor's Keep.
  • Software example: FaceRig has additional avatars as DLC, including licensed characters from Octodad, Starbound and Team Fortress 2 (oh, and PewDiePie). You only have to buy the Halloween avatars though, all the others are free.
  • Fallout 3:
    • Operation: Anchorage
    • The Pitt
    • Broken Steel (Raises level cap by 10, expands main storyline)
    • Point Lookout
    • Mothership Zeta
  • Fallout: New Vegas:
    • Dead Money
    • Honest Hearts
    • Old World Blues
    • Lonesome Road
      • Each of the above 4 DLC increases the level cap by 5, and adds a few perks to choose from when leveling up.
    • Courier's Stash (Compilation of all the Pre-Order Bonuses)
    • Gun Runners' Arsenal (Adds more weapons, weapon mods, ammunition types, challenges, and achievements/trophies)
  • Fallout 4:
    • Automatron (adds the ability to create and customize robots)
    • Far Harbor
    • Wasteland (adds additional construction options for settlements)
    • Vault-Tec Workshop (adds the ability to create a vault)
    • Nuka-World
  • Fire Emblem:
    • Fire Emblem: New Mystery of the Emblem ~Heroes of Light and Darkness~ the Japanese exclusive release for the Nintendo DS featured free extra downloadable missions.
    • Fire Emblem: Awakening marks the debut for DLC in its modern form for Nintendo systems.
    • Fire Emblem Fates has a similar set of DLC like Awakening, but except for content based on previous titles, its major DLC is the third "Revelations" route.
    • Fire Emblem Warriors has three DLC packs that include new characters, costumes, and History Mode maps, including:
      • The Shadow Dragon Pack, which includes Navarre, Minerva, and Linde
      • The Awakening pack, which includes Tharja, Olivia, and Owain
      • The Fates Pack, which includes Azura, Niles, and Oboro.
    • Fire Emblem Echoes: Shadows of Valentia features five waves of downloadable content.
      • Two waves of episodes which assist with grinding and collecting items, with one wave more difficult than the other.
      • One wave which gives access to a series of even more powerful classes.
      • A group of four episodes involving the origin of the Deliverance.
      • Recruiting the mascot characters of the Japan-only Fire Emblem Cipher trading card game.
    • Fire Emblem: Three Houses has an Expansion Pass that adds new content, including (but not limited to):
      • New costumes for many characters, such as an Academy uniform for Byleth.
      • The ability to recruit fan-favorite Anna.
      • A sauna.
      • The ability to feed dogs and cats.
      • Four new classes: the War Monk/Cleric, Trickster, Dark Flier, and Valkyrie.
      • "Cindered Shadows", a side story centered around the secretive Ashen Wolves house. Along with this new plotline, players also gain access to the subterranean city of Abyss and access to new classes, with the Ashen Wolves becoming recruitable in the main game as you progress through the side story. Completing it also nets you the Chalice of Beginnings for use in the main game.
    • Fire Emblem Engage's DLC contains additional Emblems stored in bracelets, who join upon clearing special maps. In addition, a side story taking place in an alternate Elyos can be played, featuring the heroic Fell Dragon twins Nel and Rafal, alongside the Four Winds (the Good Counterparts of the Four Hounds).
  • The Forza series mostly just has car packs, especially prevalent in Motorsport 4. One car in each pack is free to download, while the rest must be bought (separately or in a pack). Horizon has a monstrous $50 season pass.
  • Five Nights at Freddy's:
    • Five Nights At Freddys VR Help Wanted has a DLC that adds "Night 6" minigame in the FNAF 2 section, where you spar against the Withered Animatronics. A larger DLC was later released to commemorate Halloween, "Curse of Dreadbear", adding 10 new minigames in a separate Halloween interface.
    • Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach receives the "Ruin" DLC two years after launch, which adds a scenario that focuses on a brand new protagonist, Cassie.
  • Gal*Gun Double Peace mostly has cosmetic outfits for the in-game heroines and other girls, but special mention goes to the Pheromone "Z" DLC, which gives you X-Ray Vision and is priced at a whopping $90! Word of God has outright stated that it is a joke DLC and they do not expect people to actually pay for it.
  • Grand Theft Auto IV:
  • Grim Dawn has the Loyalist pack 1 and 2 which gives the player new clothes, a wig, cool armors, a wisp pet and unlimited booze. It also has the Crucible DLC which is a survival mode against waves of increasingly dangerous monsters.
  • The Guitar Hero series from GH2 onward have downloadable songs.
  • The Gunstringer:
    • The Wavy Tube Man Chronicles (free DLC that is reminiscent of Mad Dog McCree)
    • Real Big Shootin' (Shooting gallery)
    • El Diablo's 'Merican Adventure
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  • Heavy Rain:
    • Heavy Rain Chronicles 1: The Taxidermist
    • Two unreleased DLC featuring Norman Jayden and the Origami Killer.
  • Highway Blossoms has a short sequel DLC called "Next Exit."
  • All three of Humongous Entertainment's One Stop Fun Shop titles had extra art that could be downloaded off their now-gone site.
  • Hyrule Warriors provides a total of eight DLC packs on Wii U and four DLC packs on 3DS (the first three packs are already included in the base game of the 3DS version):
    • The Master Quest Pack gives a Master Quest Adventure Map, Guardian Of Time costumes for Lana and Cia, an Epona weapon for Link, and five Legend Mode scenarios revolving around Cia.
    • The Twilight Princess Pack gives a new weapon, a new Adventure Map, a new character, and two new costumes.
    • The Majora's Mask Pack gives two new characters, three costumes and a new Adventure Map.
    • The Wii U-exclusive Boss Pack gives two new modes in Challenge Mode.
    • After the release of the 3DS port, Hyrule Warriors Legends, a Legends of Hyrule Pack was made to include characters and a weapon who weren't in the Wii U version but in the base game in the port (note that owners who bought said port got a code to get the characters and the weapon for free). The content of the pack includes five new characters and a new weapon.
    • The 3DS-exclusive Master Wind Waker Pack offers a new Adventure Map.
    • The Link's Awakening Pack includes a new character, a new weapon, a new version of weapons for some base game characters and a new Adventure Map.
    • The Phantom Hourglass & Spirit Tracks Pack includes a new character, a new Adventure Map, a new weapon and other new versions of weapons for other base game characters.
    • The A Link Between Worlds includes a new Adventure Map, the rest of the new versions of weapons for the non-DLC characters and two new characters.
    • Additionally, costume packs split up differently depending on region (note that those are only for the Wii U version, as the 3DS port already includes those in the base game).
      • In Japan, they were released per-character, with three costumes for Zelda and Link and two for Ganondorf.
      • In North America, they were split up based on game. One costume each for Zelda and Link in three packs as preorder bonuses, plus a Club Nintendo exclusive Ganondorf pack for a total of 4 packs. All of them were later released for 99 cents each.
  • The "Hands Of Time" game pass in Hours (2020) will grant you 14 new unlockable Tempos (time abilities), 1 Host and 3 modifiers.
  • Infinite Undiscovery has 2 DLC: A Voucher and B Voucher, both of which allow you to purchase item creation materials at any shop.
  • Injustice: Gods Among Us:
    • Six playable characters (Lobo, Batgirl, Scorpion, General Zod, Martian Manhunter and Zatanna) and their corresponding STAR Labs mini games (except Manhunter's and Zatanna's).
    • Skin Pack features.
  • Jamestown: Legend of the Lost Colony has a DLC Gunpowder, Treason & Plot, which adds in four playable characters: Thomas Percy, Robert Catesby, Guy Fawkes (quite predictably) and the Fortune conveyance, which randomly copies the behaviour of all other ships.
  • Just Cause 2’s DLC is mostly comprised of weapons and vehicles.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All Star Battle
    • Yoshikage Kira. The download code will be included free in all copies of the game's first printing.
    • Shigechi, otherwise known as "Fatty", is also listed to be DLC for the price of 600 yen. Whether or not there is any promotion for him is yet to be seen.
    • It's been confirmed that more downloadable characters beyond these two is on the way (including Iggy from Part 3 and Fugo from Part 5.) There is also the possibility of non-character content, such as Jotaro's "Looks like I've found an idiot" taunt, a code for which is included in a character guidebook for the game.
  • In-Universe in Journey to the Savage Planet, which has an ad for a game that has only a screen full of Energy Weapons and Stuff Blowing Up unless you shell out for terrain, characters, enemy models, etc. The company's tagline is even "It's Not In the Game!" Even better, these are all temporary, meaning players have to shell out for them every time they log in.
  • Just Dance 2, 3, 4, 2014 and 2015 all have a number of extra songs to download. Most of the games have their fair share of recycled songs from previous games and new songs (except for 2 which has no recycled songs at all, and 3 which contained nothing BUT recycled songs).
  • Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning
    • Online Pass (House of Valor questline); comes free with a new copy.
    • Might, Finesse, and Sorcery Bonus Packs (additional weapons and armor). Can be purchased separately or in a bundle.
    • The Legend of Dead Kel (Additional questline)
    • Teeth of Naros (Additional questline)
  • Kingdom Hearts III has the Re𝄌Mind DLC, which adds a scenario that expands on the climax of the original game, plus no less than fourteen Harder Than Hard boss fights that culminate in a new secret ending.
  • L.A. Noire:
    • A Slip of the Tongue case.
    • Reefer Madness case.
    • The Naked City case.
    • Nicholson Electroplating case.
    • The Consul's Car case; exclusive to PS3.
    • The Badge Pursuit Challenge, which adds 20 police badges to collect around L.A.; finding them all earns you the Button Man suit, which gives extra ammo to all weapons.
    • Chicago Piano Gun, which can be obtained in any police trunk.
    • The Sharpshooter suit, which increases the accuracy of pistols and rifles.
    • The Broderick suit, which increases damage dealt in fist fights.
    • The Rockstar Pass is a pack consisting of all of the above, minus the Consul's Car case and Piano Gun.
  • Kirby Star Allies had free downloadable content featuring more characters to play as in Guest Star mode and an entirely new mode in the third dlc wave.
  • Left 4 Deadnote 
    • Survival Pack: Adds Survival mode, one new map specifically designed for it, and two complete Versus mode campaigns (making every campaign that initially came with the game playable in that mode).
    • Crash Course: Additional campaign, plus new achievements, and an updated heads-up display for VS mode, allowing you to see the cooldown meters of other Infected players.
    • The Sacrifice: Additional campaign, plus new achievements.
  • Left 4 Dead 2note 
    • The Passing: Additional campaign, plus new achievements. Also adds Mutations and the M60 and Golf Club weapons.
    • The Sacrifice: Additional campaign, plus new achievements. Also allows you to play as the L4D1 survivors in The Sacrifice, and ports No Mercy from the first game.
    • Cold Stream: Fan-made campaign made official, also ports the other L4D1 campaigns to L4D2.
  • LEGO Adaptation Game: starting with the second LEGO Harry Potter game, DLC content has been made available. Usually this consists of new characters (some who are very unexpected) and, more recently, bonus levels:
    • LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7: The Downloadable Character Pack, and the Five Spell Pack.
    • LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes: The Five Heroes Pack and the Five Villains Pack, both originally a Pre-Order Bonus before becoming available for all systems (save the Wii).
    • LEGO Lord of the Rings: The Middle Earth Character Packs. Notable for featuring Sauron of the Second Age and Glorfindel.
    • LEGO Marvel Super Heroes: The Asgard Pack, a tie-in with Thor: The Dark World, and the Super Pack, which contains random characters missing from the base game.
    • The LEGO Movie Video Game: The Wild West Pack.
    • LEGO The Hobbit: The Big Little Character Pack and the Side Quest Character Pack.
    • LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham: The first LEGO game to have DLC character and level packs as well as individual character packs. These consist of:
    • LEGO Jurassic World:
      • The Jurassic World Character Pack and The Jurassic Park Trilogy Character Packs. Originally console exclusives before becoming available for all systems.
    • LEGO Marvel’s Avengers: Most of these are tie-ins to upcoming films.
    • LEGO Star Wars: The Force Awakens: Of note is that the level packs contain unseen events that are canon to the Star Wars universe.
      • The Poe’s Quest for Survival Level Pack
      • The Escape from Starkiller Base Level Pack
      • The First Order Siege of Takodana Level Pack
      • The Phantom Limb Level Pack (exclusive to PlayStation 4)
      • The Freemaker Adventures Character Pack
      • The Clone Wars Character Pack
      • The Empire Strikes Back Character Pack (of note is that this pack contains a version of Boba Fett in his original concept art white armor)
      • The Star Wars Rebels Character Pack
      • The Jabba’s Palace Character Pack
      • The Prequel Trilogy Character Pack
      • The Jedi Character Pack (exclusive to the Season Pass)
      • The Droids Character Pack (exclusive to PlayStation 4)
    • LEGO Marvel Superheroes 2: Like with the previous LEGO Marvel game, the majority of these are tie-ins to current or upcoming movies.
  • LittleBigPlanet DLC is mostly costumes, usually taken from other media. However, there are a few level kits as well, like Metal Gear Solid and Pirates of the Caribbean.
  • Part of the infamy of The Lord of the Rings: Gollum is that it launched with a set of five day one DLC packs whose contents quickly go from reasonable (the soundtrack, a Sindarin dub) to highly questionable (a Lore Codex and Concept Art Gallery, both of which have traditionally always come with games by default) to outright bizarre (a cosmetic-only "Emotes Pack" for a single player game that amounts to the ability to play what would've otherwise been Idle Animations on command).
  • Lost Odyssey has the Triple Bonus Pack (two items and a cutscene viewer), and the Dungeon Pack (adds a Bonus Dungeon near the end of the game, along with achievements).
  • Marvel Ultimate Alliance: Hero Pack (which added Cyclops, Nightcrawler, the Hulk, and Hawkeye) and a Villain Pack (which added Magneto, Sabretooth, Venom, and Doctor Doom) for the Xbox 360 and PS3 editions. A rather infamous case because these were quickly pulled off the market by Activision, citing poor sales. Currently, the only way to get these is by hunting down the rare Gold Edition which already came with the DLC.
  • Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Again, bonus character downloads on the 360 and PS3 which added Black Panther, Psylocke, Cable, Magneto, and Carnage. It also made Juggernaut downloadable as well, who was only a preorder bonus. Activision still hadn't learned, and pulled them off the market shortly after the game was released. This meant that anyone who got the game for the holiday in 2009 would be screwed over. The complaints were so bad that Activision finally decided to make them available again... until the end of 2010. And unlike the first game, which had a version with all of the DLC available, there still isn't one for the second game.
  • Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has Jill and Shuma-Gorath as DLC characters, and DLC costumes for everyone. *
  • Mass Effect:
  • Mass Effect 2 was a dedicated producer of it through the "Cerberus Network" client. Up until October 2010, they released one DLC every month. The packs included:
    • Several pieces of promotional or Pre-Order Bonus content, including the Arc Projector, Blood Dragon Armor (from Dragon Age: Origins), the Normandy Crash Site mission and three visors (Recon Hood, Sentry Interface and Umbra Visor).
    • Several armor and weapon packs, including the Aegis Pack, Cerberus Assault Gear, Collectors' Armor Pack (exclusive to the Collector's Edition), Equalizer Pack, Firepower Pack, Terminus Pack, and the PS3-exclusive Recon Operations Pack and N7 Complete Arsenal, which collected all of the armor sets released at the time.
    • Alternate Appearance Packs, which offer unique outfits for squadmates. Two were released, comprising half of the available squadmates.
    • Arrival, the final story DLC for the game, which follows Shepard as s/he investigates the disappearance of a prominent Alliance researcher in a Batarian star system, and acts as a prologue to the following game.
    • Firewalker Pack, a free set of missions that introduces the Mako's successor, the Hammerhead, and follows the search for a Prothean artifact.
    • Kasumi: Stolen Memory, which introduced the master thief of the same name. Included two missions and a new submachine gun.
    • Lair of the Shadow Broker, a massive DLC pack that expands on a subplot from the first game. Includes a full series of missions, new gameplay enhancements and the ability to go deeper into the history of main and supporting characters from the franchise.
    • Mass Effect: Genesis, a digital comic book that allows people who haven't played the first game to learn about the story and make key choices from the previous game. Included for free in the PS3 version, along with the Cerberus Network, Overlord, Kasumi, and the Shadow Broker.
    • Overlord, a DLC pack that revolves around Shepard discovering a rogue VI at a Cerberus facility.
    • Zaeed: The Price of Revenge, which was included for free with all new copies of the game, and introduced the mercenary of the same name. Included two missions and the M-451 Firestorm heavy weapon.
  • Mass Effect 3:
    • The N7 Collector's Edition includes codes for an N7 Weapon Pack (featuring a submachine gun, sniper rifle, pistol and shotgun), a robotic dog who will appear on the Normandy, a casual hoodie to wear on the ship and an alternate appearance pack for 4 of the squad members.
    • Several pieces of promotional and Pre-Order Bonus content, including the Chakram Launcher/Knight-Reckoner Armor (unlocked by playing through the Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning demo), the M-55 Argus assault rifle, the AT-12 Raider shotgun, the "N7 Warfare Gear" pack (N7 Defender Armor/Valkyrie Rifle) if preordered from Gamestop and a Battlefield 3 multiplayer kit.
    • Several pieces of single-player content:
      • Alternate Appearance Pack, which includes a new armor set for Shepard and new outfits for some squad members.
      • Extended Cut, a free DLC released in response to a much-criticized lack of closure in the endings. Whether it fixes everything is up for debate, but now you actually get some nods to your various decisions.
      • Firefight Pack, a collection of eight weapons from the multiplayer mode that can be used in the single-player campaign.
      • From Ashes, which includes a new squadmate (a living Prothean named Javik), a new area to explore (Eden Prime), a prototype Particle Rifle and alternate costumes for every squadmate except the new one. It's free to anyone with the N7 Collector's Edition (and $10 for everyone else).
      • Groundside Resistance Pack, which (like the Firefight Pack) adds seven weapons from the multiplayer mode to the single-player campaign.
      • Leviathan, a storyline involving the history of the Reapers, featuring new areas, weapons (including the formerly Pre-Order Bonus AT-12 Raider shotgun) and weapon mods.
      • Omega, a storyline involving Shepard teaming up with Aria T'Loak and a Turian mercenary (who happens to be the first Turian female seen in the series) to retake Omega from Cerberus.
      • Citadel, the final storyline, involving your entire squad (and Wrex) tracking down a new threat on the Citadel. Also includes an apartment on one of the wards, the nearby entertainment center, and scenes with all your surviving squadmates.
    • Several pieces of multiplayer content, all of which was released for free:
      • Resurgence Pack, which includes two new maps (Firebases Condor and Hydra), and introduces the Geth and Batarians as playable races, in addition to one new character class for both the Krogan and Asari.
      • Rebellion Pack, which includes two new maps (Firebases Jade and Goddess) and includes six new character classes.
      • Earth, which includes three new maps (Firebases Rio, Vancouver and London), six new classes representing the Alliance's most elite N7 operatives, and new weapons.
      • Retaliation, which introduces several new enemies (including the Collectors and their husk variants from the prior game), over a dozen new player classes (including the Vorcha and Volus), new weapons and alternate "Hazard" versions of existing maps.
      • Reckoning, which introduces 6 new player classes (including a Collector (!))
  • Master Detective Archives: Rain Code features four DLC packs (the last containing two substories) following the game's initial release where the other detectives are Promoted to Playable, with the canon protagonist, Yuma, nowhere to be seen.
    • Ch. Desuhiko: Charisma Killed the Cat - Desuhiko investigates the Nine-Tailed Cat.
    • Ch. Fubuki: Fubuki's Luckiest Day - Fubuki discovers a mystery regarding someone's inconsistent dying message through her ability.
    • Ch. Halara: Raining Cats & Dog - Halara and Yakou are hired to solve the mystery behind the death of a client's father.
    • Ch. Vivia: Near Death Detective - Vivia investigates the mystery of suicides consecutively happening at the same building, with the presence of a strange girl.
    • Ch. Yakou: Thank You, My Detective - Yakou Furio's past is revealed.
  • Max: An Autistic Journey has Max's Birthday DLC, which has a short dungeon inside Max's dream followed by his birthday party.
  • Mega Man Powered Up
  • Mega Man X: The iOS port, specifically. In one of the more egregious examples on this page, you can, instead of finding the Heart Tanks and armor parts yourself, buy them.
  • Mega Man Star Force
    • 1: Andromeda Giga Card, L.M. Shin Brother data
    • 2: King Grandeur and Le Mu Mega and Giga Cards, 1st Mega Man and L.M. Shin Brother data
    • 3: Acid Arrest and Crimson Meteor Mega and Giga Cards
  • Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance had a numerous amount of DLC released, either pre-order bonuses or post-release, mostly focused on skins for Raiden in the main game or new missions played as a new character. Most of it came with a Japanese-exclusive special edition for PS3 and the PC port.
    • VR Missions - A new set of thirty VR missions for the player to accomplish. The Japanese version also includes a new weapon, the "Hebidamashii"/Snake Spirit, a variation of the Wooden Sword which speaks with the voice of Solid Snake (the West didn't get this weapon due to circumstances regarding Big Boss' recasting for the below MGSV).
    • Jetstream - A prequel campaign in which the player takes control of Jetstream Sam, where he takes it upon himself to dole out justice against Desperado.
    • Bladewolf - Another prequel campaign setting the player as Bladewolf, undergoing training in VR before attempting to escape from Desperado, taking out a new member of the Winds of Destruction in the process.
    • Skins for the most part started out as pre-order bonuses, before being released as DLC proper. There's the trio of Inferno, White, and Commando Armor, which are respectively red, white, and green variations of Raiden's cyborg body in the regular game. There are also the Cyborg Ninja Armor, giving Raiden the appearance of Gray Fox from the first Metal Gear Solid, and the MGS4 Raiden Custom Body, giving him his appearance from Metal Gear Solid 4.
  • Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain had a large number of DLCs, all of which were bundled together in a "Definitive Edition" release in 2016:
    • The Ground Zeroes prologue game has two DLC missions - "Deja Vu" (which is a large-scale Call-Forward to the original Metal Gear Solid) and "Jamais Vu" (which has players controlling Raiden as he attempts to stop a body-snatcher invasion). Both were initially exclusive to the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, respectively, but were both unlocked for use through a patch and were included with the PC port.
    • The "Day One" version of the game includes extra DLC, including an additional outfit (Blue Urban), gun (Adam-Ska Handgun), cardboard box (wetland) and silver ballistic shield. The Collector's Edition of Phantom Pain has all of these plus several unique items, including three more outfits (Black Ocelot, gray urban and all-purpose dryland), three additional gun variants (including a revolver, handgun and a gold-plated short-barreled shotgun), two additional variants of the ballistic shield, two additional variants of the cardboard box and several items for use in Metal Gear Online, including a REX helmet, XP boost and gold pistol/assault rifle. These were all made available in the Definitive Edition.
    • Several DLCs for either pre-ordering from certain outlets or buying certain versions of the game would result in additional Mother Base staff being unlocked for use in Phantom Pain. One of these, the "Skull" Mother Base Staff DLC, could originally only be acquired from GameTatsuya in Japan (it exists as normally-inaccessible code in the retail release. All of these additional staff members were eventually included proper in the Definitive Edition.
    • The "Costume and Tack Pack" DLC adds several different outfits for Snake and the playable Mother Base staff characters, including the Operation Snake Eater Sneaking Suit and Combat Fatigues, The Boss' Sneaking Suit and Eva's jumpsuit (for female characters), a tuxedo and a pair of cosmetic armors for D-Horse (Parade and Western Tack).
    • Metal Gear Online had several DLC packs developed for it, most of which added additional cosmetic options for players. The "Cloaked in Silence" DLC (much like its mission from the main game) added Quiet as a usable multiplayer character.
  • Monster Hunter:
    • Cost-free event quests (available in Low, High and whenever present G rank varieties) and event arena fights. 4 Ultimate also has downloadable Episodic Quests (sets of three quests that each have a Sidequest Sidestory).
    • In Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, there's the option to purchase items that are otherwise more difficult to obtain (the vendor is the old lady in Port Tanzia).
    • Monster Hunter: World has the expansion Iceborne, which adds a whole lot of new content, making it the game's DLC equivalent of an expanded version as seen in previous installments. Monster Hunter: Rise would later have a similar expansion with Sunbreak.
  • Mortal Kombat:
  • Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm 3 had several alternate costume packs released... which were region-exclusive, making it impossible to download all of them.
  • Neverwinter Nights and Neverwinter Nights 2 have various premium campaign modules available as DLC. NWN bundles them with the Diamond release.
  • Super Mario Bros.:
    • New Super Mario Bros. 2: Downloadable packs of Coin Rush levels, like the Nerve Wrack Pack, Mystery Adventure Pack and near aptly named Impossible Pack. The Gold Classics Pack was the final one released, and for a limited time was free.
    • New Super Mario Bros. U: New Super Luigi U is an Expansion Pack with 82 new, much tougher levels starring Luigi, whose physics are noticeably different from Mario's. In a zig-zagging, the game is also available as a disc copy, independent of Mario Bros U. The Deluxe port of the game for the Nintendo Switch has it embedded cost-free.
    • Mario Kart 8:
      • The game has two DLC packages, which add 16 new tracks across 4 new cups (some from past Mario Kart titles — including SNES Rainbow Road — and others from other Nintendo titles — including Mute City and Big Blue from F-Zero; and yes, the Blue Falcon is also DLC), and new characters (a few from other Nintendo titles, such as Link, Villager and Isabelle).
      • The first free DLC released for MK8 adds wheels and karts resembling Real Life vehicles from Mercedes-Benz as part of a Cross Promotion with the brand, as Mercedes-Benz has used Mario in their ad campaigns for their luxury GLA SUV. The second free DLC added the Harder Than Hard 200cc.
      • Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which has all DLC from the original embedded as part of the base content, has a few free downloadable updates on its own, as well as a full-fledged paid DLC five years after its release. The free additions are content from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, namely the game's Master Cycle Zero and the Champion's Tunic as a alternate costume for Link; the other is support for one of the Nintendo Labo Vehicle kits. The paid DLC is the Booster Course Pass, which is a massive pack of 48 tracks from all previous installments in the series plus the later-released Mario Kart Tour, distributed in 12 brand-new cups (themselves divided into six waves of four cups each, released one by one over time); starting from the fourth wave, characters that weren't previously in the game's initial roster (such as Birdo, Petey Piranha, Funky Kong) were also included as part of the pack.
    • Luigi's Mansion 3 saw the release of extra multiplayer modes.
  • NHL Hockey: Some titles in the series allow for players to download updated rosters and added improvements to gameplay.
  • Nobody Saves the World: The "Frozen Hearth" expansion adds a new area and two new forms (the Mechanic and Killer Bee) to the game.
  • Overcooked! 2:  a mixture of free and paid DLC:
    • Free : Kevin's Christmas Cracker (5 levels) Chinese New Year (7 levels) Winter Wonderland (5 levels) Spring Festival (5 levels) and Sun's Out, Buns Out (5 levels). Seasonal updates with new characters, recipes and levels to play through.
    • Paid: Surf 'n' Turf (13 levels) Campfire Cook Off (12 levels) Night of the Hangry Horde (20 levels) and Carnival of Chaos (15 levels)
  • Pathfinder: Kingmaker has several:
    • Wildcards: Add the tiefling as a playable race and two new companions.
    • Bloody Mess (available for free): Visible blood on clothes when injured. Can be toogle on or off.
    • Arcane Unleashed (available for free): New arcane spells, a new pet and redesigned look for dragons.
    • Varnhold's Lot: Play a new character in a neighboured city. Meant to be played halfway into your the main campaign.
    • Beneath the Stolen lands: A new dungeon. Can be played from scratch with a new party or accessed with your character during the main campaign.
  • PAYDAY: The Heist:
    • No Mercy: A free level for everyone based on the No Mercy campaign from Left 4 Dead. Players who own Left 4 Dead or Left 4 Dead 2 (PC only) get masks that are based off the franchise's special infected.
    • Wolfpack DLC: Paid content containing two new heists, a new class tree (Technical class), and three new weapons (automatic pistol, rifle, and a grenade launcher). Players who don't own the DLC can still play the new maps if the host owns the DLC.
  • PAYDAY 2 has, as of March 2015, nearly 30 separate pieces of downloadable content, including:
    • The "Loot Bag" pack was distributed as a Pre-Order Bonus, and contains a unique mask, extra mask colors/patterns, an extra gun scop and in-game money to start with.
    • Several free and paid character packs, including John Wick, "Old" Hoxton, the Clover, Dragan and "the Jacket" (a bonus for buying the Collector's Edition of Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number).
    • Several free and paid heists, including the Diamond Store, Charlie Santa, Election Day, Shadow Raid, Old Hoxton Breakout, Armored Transport, The Big Bank, Hotline Miami, Diamond Heist and Bomb Heists. Many of the heists can be played by non-DLC owners if the host owns the heist in question.
    • Several major gameplay updates, including Infamy (resets players levels back to 0 and relocks all of their gear/skills in exchange for leveling faster and obtaining unique masks) and Death Wish (adds a Harder Than Hard difficulty level).
    • Digital soundtracks, both for the main game and a Christmas-themed version. Notably, owning one or more of these items (including the soundtrack for the first game) unlocked additional masks and patterns for usage in 2.
    • The "Gage" weapon packs, including specialty packs for snipers, shotgunners and assault, general weapon packs, a "historical" pack (old-fashioned weapons) and the "Mod Courier", which allows the players to pick up additional weapon mods during missions.
    • The "OVERKILL" and "Completely OVERKILL" packs, which awards rare and unique items to paying users, and in turn supported the development of free content for the rest of the userbase. Additionally, there are a new set of DLC weapon packs focused around a supplier named "The Butcher".
    • There are also several pieces of content that were distributed in limited quanties through the Humble Bundle website, including the "Orc", "Crossbreed", "Lycan" and "One Below" masks.
  • Buyable online content in Persona 5 includes:
  • Pikmin 3: Extra stages for Mission Mode. They were released in three parts: One where the stages are set in modified versions of the areas seen in the base game's stages, one where the stages are in modified versions of the areas of the main campaign, and one where the stages are set in completely new areas based on Christmas. The Updated Re-release Pikmin 3 Deluxe for the Switch includes all DLC as part of the base content.
  • Pokémon: Especially in Generation IV.
    • Pokémon's been doing this all the way back since 1999, which could potentially make it the Trope Codifier. It's free, technically, but has been limited to certain areas and made the game impossible to complete without cheating if you're going for 100% Completion, although these days with wi-fi access being more common outside of Japan most event releases are now more easily obtainable although they still do events that require going some place to get something. That still has the problem of making it impossible to get 100% Completion without cheating: once an event is over, you're out of luck.
    • Pokémon Sword and Shield features for the first time in the series paid downloadable expansions featuring new content. This is also a shift from previous games, where new content was only exclusive to an Updated Re-release like Emerald and Platnium.
  • Portal 2:
    • MotionPack, an exclusive DLC for owners of the Razer Hydra or the PlayStation Move, includes new single-player and co-op levels which use motion control.
    • Peer Review, which includes a Time Trial mode for single-player and a new co-op storyline which involves Atlas and P-Body investigating a disturbance in the testing center.
    • Perpetual Testing Initiative, released through the Steam Workshop, adds a new gamemode and short campaign that introduces players to user-generated content, via the inclusion of a new player character called "Bendy".
    • Sixense Perceptual Pack, a free standalone set of 7 levels that require usage of the Senz3D gesture camera.
    • Anyone who preordered the game at Gamestop received two exclusive "rollcage" skins for Atlas and P-Body in the co-op campaign.
  • In Potion Permit, you can download extra furniture for your house. Some of them are free while others are sold at a low price in real money.
  • Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid has a season pass containing three new characters, their arcade story, and a warrior skin.
  • Professor Layton: The first four games have weekly downloadable puzzles (52 in total), for free. From Miracle Mask onwards, they're daily downloadable puzzles (365 in total). The only game with paid DLC is Layton's Mystery Journey: Katrielle and the Millionaires' Conspiracy (even then, they're just a few non-essential puzzles and extra clothes for Katrielle; the Daily Puzzles are still on the house).
  • Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords has Revenge of the Plague Lord, which adds a separate set of quests to thegame.
    Q-Z 
  • Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault:
    • Predators Pack
    • Miniboss Pack
    • Villain Pack
    • NPC Pack
    • Classic Pack
    • Robot Pack
  • Red Dead Redemption:
    • Outlaws to the End Co-op Mission Pack
    • Legends and Killers pack
    • Liars and Cheats pack
    • Hunting and Trading Pack
    • Undead Nightmare pack
      • Undead Nightmare Collection (bundles Liars and Cheats, Legends and Killers, and Undead Nightmare DLC)
    • War Horse
    • Golden Guns Weapon Pack
    • Deadly Assassin Outfit
    • Myths and Mavericks Bonus Pack
  • Rail Works:
  • Resident Evil:
    • The HD remaster for Resident Evil 0 had several costume packs released for it, including one that featured several designs that won a fan t-shirt design contest. The other costume packs include alternate outfits for Rebecca and Billy that include nods to other Resident Evil games (as well as Street Fighter Alpha 3).
    • Resident Evil 5 had two major expansions developed for it - Lost in Nightmares (a Prequel involving Chris and Jill investigating Spencer's mansion) and Desperate Escape (a sidestory involving Jill and Josh Stone as they rush to help Chris and Sheva in the main game). The two DLCs, along with previously-sold Mercenaries modes and additional costumes, were later bundled together as the "Untold Stories Bundle", and included in the PC version's "Gold Edition".
    • Resident Evil 6 had several Mercenaries modes released as DLC, along with a free wallpaper pack for anyone who bought the PC version.
    • Resident Evil: Revelations included several bits of weapon DLC, such as new parts and mods, along with two additional characters (Lady HUNK and Rachael Ooze). Resident Evil: Revelations 2 did much the same thing, with the addition of two extra mini-chapters (Little Miss and The Struggle) that answer key questions and set up sequel hooks.
    • Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City offered several additional DLC weapon packs, along with a two-part expansion called "Echo Six", which follows a different squad pursuing intel on the orders of Jill.
    • Umbrella Corps includes two DLC packs that offer additional avatar and weapon customization options.
    • Resident Evil 7: Biohazard has two Banned Footage dlc's where you play through extra VHS tapes not in the main game along with two mini games. There's also a large epilogue expansion - End of Zoe - where you play as Zoe and discover her fate after the end of the main game. Finally, there's the free Not a Hero dlc where you play as Chris Redfield as he sets out to apprehend Lucas Baker.
  • The Steam release of RPG Maker VX Ace includes over 200$ of DLC in the form of graphics and audio to be used for created games.
  • Rock Band:
    • New song updates lasted for a whopping 5+ years before finally ending in April 2013. The song updates were revived in 2015 following the release of Rock Band 4 before finally ending for good on January 25, 2024 due to Epic Games's acquisition of Harmonix. There are over 3000 songs available for download.
  • Sakura Wars 3: "Drama files" containing small stories. Some cost money (well, DreamPoints) to download.
  • Saints Row: The Third:
    • Invincible Pack (cheats)
    • Funtime! Pack (additional weapon, vehicle, and outfit)
    • Money Shot Pack
    • Shark Attack Pack (additional weapon and hat)
    • Z Style Pack (additional weapon and hat)
    • Explosive Combat Pack (additional weapon and outfit)
    • Warrior Pack (4 additional outfits)
    • Bloodsucker Pack
    • Season Pass (unlocks the following 4 DLC as they're released)
      • Genkibowl VII
      • Gangstas In Space
      • The Trouble With Clones
      • Nyte Blayde Pack (Outfits and vehicles)
    • Viewer Packs: Allows you to play online co-op with someone that has one of the DLC in the Season Pass (minus Nyte Blayde), if you don't have it.
    • Special Ops Vehicle Pack (Saints-themed vehicles)
    • Steelport Gangs Pack (6 outfits)
  • Samba de Amigo: New songs. In the Dreamcast version, it was free; in the Wii version, it costs money.
  • Shin Megami Tensei IV has a series of Optional Boss battles against the Four Archangels, Sanat, the Ancient of Days, and Masakado, a small group of secret demons (Aeshma, Asterius, Plasma, et al), various armor sets, money-farming missions, loot missions, etc.
  • The 1993 computer pinball game Silverball contains an Ur-Example of DLC: The game came with four Digital Pinball Tables, and a fifth table, "Nova", was available by sending in a brochure included with the retail package. Players who did so would receive a second floppy disk which installed "Nova" onto their copy of Silverball and enabled it in the game menu.
  • The Sims (the first game) had free DLC: NPCs, objects, music from Superstar, wallpapers, and tools to use with the game. The official site for the first game has, unfortunately, closed, sometime during the 10 years since the game was released.
  • The Sims 3, as well as having the usual Expansion Packs associated with the Sims franchise, has a DLC Store which includes:
    • New worlds (both free and pay)
    • New clothing and hair
    • Home decor and home improvement
    • The occasional branded/sponsored content
    • "Premium Content" (items with new interations not available in the base game or in expansion packs). Prices vary depending on what's being bought: a new top for a teen sim can cost as little as 25 points/$0.25, while currently (Nov 2011) the most expensive is the Best of 2010 Collection containing 16 of the most popular DLC sets released in 2010 for 6k points/$60.
  • The Sims 4 takes this to new extremes. While the game itself is free to play, there are currently 62 different DLC packs of varying sizes to purchase. They range from $5 "kits" which provide very small amounts of content or new minor mechanics, to $40 "Expansion Packs" which introduce large new features and areas. Buying all of them at current prices would cost over $1000.
  • Skullgirls has Color packs for the 8 playable characters and the Color pack Bundle, 5 downloadable fighters (being undead Idol Singer Squigly, former beat cop turned saxophone Cyborg Big Band, Celebrity Diva/Egyptian Vampire Eliza, Retired Badass Beowulf, and Robo-Fortune), 7 new stages, as well as alternate voice packs Salty Parasoul, Republican Double, Valley Girl Painwheel, Anime Peacock, Saxploitation, Female Announcer, Drunk FGC Announcer, and Real Soviet Announcer.
  • Sonic the Hedgehog:
    • Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed:
      • Metal Sonic driver and Outrun track
      • Ryo Hazuki driver
      • Simon Lane driver (all proceeds from this DLC go to the SpecialEffect charity)
    • Sonic Adventure
      • Sponsored time trial challenges taking the form of scavenger hunts or time attack contests with promotional backing by Reebok (Europe-only), AT&T (US-only), Famitsu, and QUO Cards (last two were Japan-only).
      • A "Samba GP" Twinkle Circuit course.
      • Celebratory event packs for Christmas (one for 1998 for Japan-only and one in 1999 worldwide), New Year's 1999 ("Kadomatsu", Japan-only), Halloween, Y2K, and Dreamcast launch.
      • Special Chao
      • Voice packs for the voiceovers in the main menu.
      • The 2010 remaster has the DX content as DLC
    • Sonic Adventure 2:
      • Kart tracks
      • Voice packs DLC similar to the first game (in the GameCube version these were included on-disc for lack of Internet connectivity)
      • Downloadable outfits for the characters for multiplayer mode
      • The 2012 remaster has the Battle content as DLC
    • Sonic The Hedgehog:
      • A "Very Hard" difficulty mode of the original levels, one for each character.
      • "Team Attack Amigo", a mash up of various levels using different secondary characters.
      • A Boss Rush mode, again one for each character.
    • Sonic Unleashed has "Adventure Packs" (additional day and night levels/town missions) for the game locations: Chun-Nan, Spagonia, Holoska, Mazuri, Apotos & Shamar, and Empire City & Adabat (no Eggmanland) (in release date order).
    • The Steam release of Sonic Generations has the Casino Night Pre-Order Bonus as DLC.
    • Sonic Lost World: Exclusive to the Wii U version is two DLC levels that take Sonic through the worlds of Yoshi's Island and The Legend of Zelda. You can access them in the Windy Hill hub world every time you get a set amount of points. Like with Sonic Generations, the Nightmare Zone Pre-Order Bonus is available in the PC version, where it's mentioned as being free DLC.
    • Sonic Forces has free launch-day DLC that includes Shadow the Hedgehog as a playable character with his own prequel campaign. DLC was also needed in order to transform Sonic into Super Sonic- it was originally going to be paid DLC, but after fan outcry, SEGA decided to permanently make it a free download.
  • Soul Calibur:
    • Soulcalibur IV had Yoda or Darth Vader, depending on which console you bought the game on (360 for the former, PS3 for the latter). To clarify: There's also a number of holiday-themed clothing pieces for Character Creation mode and music from the original Soulcalibur.
    • Soulcalibur V
      • Dampierre, previously a pre-order bonus from Best Buy, is now available for $5/400 Microsoft Points.
      • Light and Dark Knight Armor, only available by getting the Limited Edition.
      • 5 songs from each of the previous Soul games, and 1 from Broken Destiny.
      • Cepheus Compatibility Packs, which add new customization options for Character Creation.
    • Soulcalibur VI
      • Tira, a returning characters introduced in Soulcalibur III, was a launch-day DLC who was available to players who preordered.
      • 2B, the heroine of NieR: Automata, and the game's second Guest Fighter (after Geralt).
  • Spider-Man (PS4) has three additional DLC campaigns, collectively known as The City That Never Sleeps, which continues the story after the main campaign's conclusion:
    • "The Heist", released in October 2018, focuses on Felicia Hardy/Black Cat, Spidey's rival and former paramour, as she conducts a risky series of thefts on New York's biggest crime families.
    • "Turf Wars", released in November 2018, focuses on Hammerhead, a Maggia crime family boss who plans to fill the power vacuum left in the wake of the Kingpin's arrest, and will drag New York into a gang war to do so.
    • "Silver Lining", released in December 2018, focuses on Silver Sable as she returns to New York to contend with a common enemy of Spidey's.
  • Splatoon:
    • Splatoon 2: Octo Expansion gives a second story campaign that follows an amnesiac member of the Octoling race and explains where certain characters were during the events of the game's main story. After completing it, the player is able to use Octolings in the game's multiplayer mode.
    • The Splatoon 3: Expansion Pass allows the player to travel to Inkopolis Plaza, and also unlocks the forthcoming Side Order singleplayer campaign, taking the player through a severely warped Inkopolis Square.
  • Star Wars: The Force Unleashed has a Mission in Jedi Temple, Tatooine, and Hoth. All 3 are included in the Ultimate Sith Edition.
  • Plan With Me is the first paid DLC of Sticky Business, which adds more than 100 stationery-themed sticker parts along with new glitter effects, candies and small gifts, and 10 new customer stories. It was released on December 18, 2023.
  • Street Fighter X Tekken is notorious for the absolute shitstorm of controversy caused by the discovery that nearly all the content being sold as DLC was already on the disc.
    • Gems (basically, equipment that powers up players in a crisis)
    • Customization colours
    • Alternate costumes
    • Fourteen characters. Two of them, Mega Man and Pac-Man, are free (though only available for Sony consoles); the other twelve were originally planned to be released in the Fall, but were pushed upward to the Summer because of complaints.
  • Street Fighter IV:
    • 5 costume packs and a special form of Ranked Match called Championship Mode.
  • Super Street Fighter IV
    • 2 sets of 7 new costume packs
    • Tournament Mode
    • Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, which adds 4 new characters (Yun, Yang, Evil Ryu, and Oni) and rebalances the game.
    • Arcade Challengers Pack, which contains 2 sets of Alternate Costumes for each of the 4 newcomers from Arcade Edition.
  • Super Robot Wars 30 has a number of them.
    • As a pre-order bonus, you could obtain two stages to unlock Cybaster and the SRX, along with a number of items, money and character points.
    • The first DLC set, as part of the season pass, includes the Hi-Nu Gundam, Voltes V, RyuKoOh/KoRyuOh and characters from Sakura Wars.
    • The second DLC pack includes characters from Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron-Blooded Orphans, Ultraman, the Alteisen Reise and the Rein Weissritter.
  • Super Smash Bros.:
    • Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U is the first game in the series to support DLC. The player can choose to either pay 5$ for a certain character to be available in one version, or 6$ for the character to be in both versions if the player has them:
      • Mewtwo was a free downloadable character for those who purchased both versions and registered them on Club Nintendo before the end of March 2015. He's also available for purchase, but is no longer free.
      • Two months later, Lucas, Roy, and Ryu were also added as DLC fighters. Ryu's DLC also comes with his stage from Street Fighter II.
      • A Miiverse stage (for free), and the Duck Hunt stage on the 3DS version (it's already in the Wii U version).
      • Returning stages from the original game, including Dreamland, Peach's Castle, and Hyrule Castle. The Pirate Ship stage returned from Super Smash Bros. Brawl, but only for the Wii U version.
      • Certain tournament modes (again, for free).
      • New costumes for the Mii Fighters, including outfits based on Dunban, Proto Man, and X. There are even Mii Costumes based off of franchises not yet represented in Smash at the time, such as Heihachi from Tekken, Lloyd from the Tales of Symphonia, and Akira plus Jacky from Virtua Fighter.
      • A stage based on Super Mario Maker, for both the Wii U and the 3DS versions. It's notable for being the only new DLC stage that was announced with its own trailer (as it's neither a returning stage nor one associated with a DLC character).
      • The DLC roster wraps up with Cloud Strife, followed by the reveal of Corrin and (among negotiable third-party characters at the time) the Smash Ballot winner, Bayonetta. Cloud and Bayonetta come with stages from their home games (Midgar and Umbra Clock Tower respectively), while Corrin comes with a couple more songs for the Fire Emblem stages.
    • Super Smash Bros. Ultimate has DLC with Mii costumes and brand new fighters, as the game has all previous fighters included already as part of its tagline. Unlike its predecessor, the DLC has a more organized structure: Five of the extra characters are part of the Fighters Pass, while another six follow up in Fighters Pass Vol. 2. Each fighter in the Fighters Pass comes with a stage, a selection of music and its own Spirit Board. When also counting the standalone additions of Piranha Plant and Small Battlefield, there's a total of 12 characters and 12 stages added post-release:
      • The first DLC fighter, separate from either Fighters Pass, is Piranha Plant, and was originally available for free for those who purchased and registered the game within two months of launch, and since then it became available but no longer for free. Unlike the other DLC fighters, it does not include any stage, any music or Spirits.
      • Joker from Persona 5 is the first character for the Fighters Pass, and was made available on April 17, 2019. He comes with the Mementos stage with music not just from Persona 5, but Persona 3 and Persona 4 as well.
      • Various Dragon Quest heroes are collectively the second Fighters Pass character, released on July 30, 2019. They come with the Yggdrasil's Altar stage from XI and eight Dragon Quest songs, two from each game that has a playable Hero.
      • The duo of Banjo & Kazooie is the third Fighters Pass character, released on September 4, 2019. They come with the Spiral Mountain stage from their home game, and 10 songs total from that game and its sequel, Banjo-Tooie. The release of this character came alongside the cost-free return of Home-Run Contest.
      • Terry Bogard is the fourth Fighters Pass character, released on November 6, 2019. His stage is the King of Fighters Stadium, which comes with fifty songs from various SNK games (the largest volume of music from a represented third-party series).
      • Byleth is the fifth and final Fighters Pass character, released on January 28, 2020. They come with the Garreg Mach Monastery stage from their original game, and various Three Houses songs are available to all Fire Emblem stages, as opposed to the other DLC characters thus far, whose bonus songs are locked into their own bonus stages.
      • Min Min from ARMS is the first character of Fighters Pass Vol. 2, released on June 29, 2020. Her release also comes with Spring Stadium and 18 songs from ARMS. Her Spirit Board is unique in that it includes Spirits that can be accessed through the base content (their presence here makes their obtainment easier and more direct).
      • In August 2020, the stage Small Battlefield was added to the game for free. Mirroring the case of Piranha Plant, it didn't bring any other kind of content alongside it.
      • Steve from Minecraft is the second character of Fighters Pass Vol. 2, released on October 13, 2020. Steve also comes with Minecraft World and 7 songs from the various Minecraft spin-offs.
      • Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII is the third character of Fighter Pass Vol. 2, released on December 22, 2020. He comes with a stage based on the Northern Cave, the final dungeon of his game, and nine songs from the original game and its CG movie sequel are added to the existing library of Final Fantasy VII songs; the new music can be heard in the Midgar stage as well. Cloud's fighter spirit was also adjusted to use his official Tetsuya Nomura artwork, when previously it had just been his Smash CG render, and his Advent Children palette swap's Final Smash was updated to Omnislash Ver. 5.
      • Pyra and Mythra from Xenoblade Chronicles 2 are collectively the fourth character of Fighters Pass Vol. 2, released on March 4, 2021. They're interchangeable characters in the style of Zelda and Sheik in Melee and Brawl, as well as the Trainer's Pokémon in Brawl and Ultimate, and are included with the Cloud Sea of Alrest stage and 16 songs from the source game; the songs can be heard in the Gaur Plains stage as well. Their Spirit Board is the second to have both new Spirits and those of the base game (the latter ones' presence here makes their obtainment easier and more direct).
      • Kazuya Mishima from Tekken is the fifth character of Fighters Pass Vol. 2, released on of June 29, 2021. He comes with a stage based on Tekken 7's Mishima Dojo, and 39 songs throughout the entire series.
      • Sora from Kingdom Hearts is the sixth and last character of Fighters Pass Vol. 2 and the last DLC character overall, released on October 18, 2021. Alongside him is a stage based on Hollow Bastion from the original game, and nine tracks from the series.
      • Purchasing the first Fighter's Pass grants access to Rex's Mii Costume, while purchasing Vol. 2 grants access to a Mii Costume based on Link's Ancient Armor. It won't count if you acquire the DLC characters separately.
      • In terms of Mii Costumes, there are hats and outfits based off of Morgana, Teddie, Slime and the Rabbids, new costumes based off of the Protagonist from Persona 3, Yu Narukami, Veronica, Erdrick, Martial Artist, Goemon, Team Rocket, Nakoruru, Ryo Sakazaki, Iori Yagami, Altaïr, the Squid Sisters, the Octolings, Judd, Ninjara, Travis Touchdown, Aerith, Tifa, Barret, the Dragonborn, Dante, and Doom Slayer; and old costumes from Smash 4 including Tails, Knuckles, Proto Man, X, Zero, MegaMan.EXE, Akira, Jacky, Heihachi Mishima, Chocobo, Geno, Rathalos, the Hunters, Felyne, Arthur and Lloyd.
      • The Mii Costume based off of Sans from Undertale became the first costume to be bundled with a music track, a remix of "Megalovania" done by Toby Fox himself in this case. The second Mii Costume to have a music track to come with it is Cuphead, which has "Floral Fury". The third Mii Costume with a track is Shantae, with the track coming from Half-Genie Hero.
  • Supreme Commander 2 Infinite War Battle Pack One: New units, some returning from the first game.
  • Tales of Vesperia has a lot of DLC, all of which fall under the category of Bribing Your Way to Victory:
    • Three packs of 300,000 Gald.
    • Battle Support Item Pack.
    • Camping Kit.
    • Customize Packs for the various characters.
    • Two Gel Sets, one of which is free.
    • Two Level Up + 10 packs.
    • Four Level Up + 5 packs.
    • Pack o’ Useful Stuff.
    • Three Recipe Sets.
    • Three Synthesis Kits.
    • Trial Skill Packs for the various characters.
    • Trial Synthesis Kit.
  • Tekken:
    • Tekken Tag Tournament 2 has free time delay updates which add ten characters as well as items and a crapton of custom logos that could be used in character customization.
    • Tekken 7 has a couple of free online updates which rebalance the gameplay, as well as paid DLC that add fourteen characters, six stages, and additional costumes and accessories. You can also pay to unlock Eliza, if you did not preorder the game.
  • Them's Fightin' Herds: The first fighter not part of the game's original six characters, Shanty, was added as DLC on March 25, 2021, after she was crowdfunded a few years earlier not too long after the main game was. It also comes with her stage "The Capricorn", and her own side story after the game's main one is finished.
  • The Steam version of Train Simulator 2016: you'll need over 3000 dollars to buy all of the 230 DLC—and that's when it's on sale!
  • Under Night In-Birth
    • While the console port of the game's first update, Exe:Late avoided this entirely, the console port of the following update, Exe:Late[st] finally introduced DLC to the series, though it didn't go as far as additional character color packs and in-character announcer voices. The third and final update, Exe:Late[cl-r], was an interesting case, as the update was both available separately as its own game + all the DLC content from the last game, but could be downloaded as a free patch for owners of Exe:Late[st], with the new character Londrekia being made as paid DLC.
    • The sequel, [Sys:Celes] played it more straight with a season pass containing three new characters: Uzuki, Ogre, and Izumi, as well as providing immediate access to Kuon without needing to unlock him.
  • WipEout:
    • Pure: Goteki 45, Tigron, Van Uber and Icaras vehicles; Iridia, Anulpha Pass, Odessa Keys, Porta Kora, Exostra Run, Uber Mall, Staten Park, Sebenco Peak, Vohl Square, Koltiwa and Khara Descent tracks note ; and even some remixes of old background music. (No longer available via official sources.)
    • Pulse: Mirage, Auricom, Harimau and Icaras crafts and Orcus, Vostok Reef, Gemini Dam, and Edgewinter tracks (Europe only)
    • HD: Fury (Adds 3 new modes and 8 new tracks)
  • The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt:
    • Various armour sets, such as Temerian and Nilfgaardian.
    • Two extra quests in "Where The Wolf And Cat Play" and "Fool's Gold".
    • Alternate costumes for Yennefer, Triss, and Ciri.
    • Alternate Gwent card art for certain cards.
    • The only two paid DLC packs for the game are "Hearts Of Stone", which is a traditional expansion pack, and "Blood And Wine", which, in terms of content, is practically a full game in its own right.
  • WWE video game series
    • As well as a budding creations community (who have made everyone...everyone, Jax Tellar, Buffy and Faith, past wrestlers, wrestlers in the game from previous years, current versions of wrestlers already in the game...) THQ has come up with several download packs and updates expanding the roster and moves.
  • The Nintendo Switch version of World Neverland: Daily Life in Elnea Kingdom has tons of DLC, with new items released around twice a month since its 2018 launch. It includes:
    • Many, many clothing and accessory items—these make up the bulk of the DLC available
    • Furniture packs for decorating interiors
    • Special items that let your character move faster
    • Two special dungeons that come with new enemies, new equipment, and new costumes and interior items
    • Finally, additional save slots
  • X-Universe: DLC is generally incorporated into major patches.
    • Bonus Pack of signed scripts (free)
    • X3: Terran Conflict:
      • A Place of Sunshine (bonus sector distributed over Steam)
      • X3: Albion Prelude expansion ($9.99 to owners of TC, free to owners of the X-Superbox series collection)
  • Xenoblade Chronicles X: The Japanese version saw the release of four additional characters for recruitment: H.B., Yelv, Boze and Alexa. They were added into the base content for the overseas version, so the only thing players should look for in the Wii U's eShop is the massive data packs, which alleviate the loading times and improve the textures, and are cost-free.
  • You Don't Know Jack (2011): 4 separate Jack Packs, each of which adds 10 new episodes.
  • The original Zoo Tycoon had some free downloadable animals, decorations, and Mexican and Atlantean theme packs. Zoo Tycoon 2 had a few more animal, decor and challenge addons, plus one DLC, Dino Danger Pack (which was later taken offline and worked into the Extinct Animals expansion pack.)

 
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Strife and Ruin

A second free DLC, Strife and Ruin, was released on February 18, 2021. It features a crossover with Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, adding new challenge rooms, a Boss Rush mode, and new render modes.

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