Bungie is currently asking $40 for Destiny's new expansion, The Taken King, and is "comfortable" with the value it provides, according to an interview with Eurogamer. What that money buys is relative, because $40 can get you the base game instead, which includes far more content than the expansion provides. Bungie's playing a balancing act right now, trying to convince legacy players that $40 is money well spent to continue their journey, while also convincing new players to join up at a significantly reduced price. It's going about as well as you'd expect.
In addition to the $40 expansion, Bungie and Activision is releasing a bundle for $60 that includes all Destiny content up to and including The Taken King. That's all well and good; these sorts of things are expected in this day and age, with 'game of the year' editions combining content for late-comers at a sweeter price. But the rub comes in with the collector's edition of The Taken King - an $80 edition that combines the game, all the DLC, and a bunch of emotes and class items you can only get if you buy this particular edition of the game. Fans are kind of pissed that they're unable to purchase this content outside of the collector's edition package, and are essentially required to re-buy content they already own just to get the additional perks.
Luke Smith, creative director of The Taken King, explains in the interview: "There is no way right now for you to get the new dance emotes without [buying the collector's edition]. Those are Collector's Edition exclusive. We've set some stuff aside for that edition specifically to really make it appeal to fans who have engaged with the game already and also to people that will enter the game this autumn." While Smith states that he's taking player feedback into account going forward regarding pricing and the current state of the collector's edition, he's "really comfortable with the value we're giving to players this autumn."
It's not like Activision doesn't have any experience with this sort of thing. Blizzard has released collector's editions of pretty much every add-on for World of Warcraft since the beginning, and each of those editions, while pricey, include a plethora of physical and digital goodies to sweeten the deal. And they don't force players to re-purchase content they already own just to get the few pieces of content they do want.
In Destiny’s case, though, it's about – as Smith puts it – "the player's assessment of the value of the content." And if you don't find value in it, well… reassess.
