The Darkness II was the cel-shaded follow-up to one of the Xbox 360’s earliest and most atmospheric shooters. It had a lot to live up to, considering that it had left behind developer Starbreeze Studios (famous for The Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay; a licensed game that was fairly awesome). Suffice to say, it didn’t exactly reach stunning heights of popularity.
It might be a bit unsurprising, then, that the developer is canceling plans for any future DLC. While once there were plans for additional content, some of which may have extended the story beyond where it initially ended, those have been wholly scrapped. Since the game failed to achieve its sales targets 2K has decided not to make any further financial investment into The Darkness II.
Odd, though, how disappointing that feels. It used to be that, if a game underperformed, you likely couldn’t look forward to a sequel, or you’d end up with a situation like the Xenosaga series, in which the latter half of the series all gets condensed into a single game. However, as a result of a market in which DLC proves lucrative, it becomes possible for a company to release a game that has elements of its story left out entirely (007 Legends) with plans to add them in later as DLC. When that DLC gets canned, it can leave those who played the game without the resolution they expected.
Do companies, though, have a responsibility to see their stories through to a satisfying conclusion? Ask the Mass Effect 3 players, or those who played Asura’s Wrath, which resolved little and promised more (available as, yep, DLC).
Source: The Nexus News