Bungie rigorously defended price for The Taken King DLC, announced at E3 this year, in a touchy interview and has plans to reward players who have been playing since the beginning.

Taken King creative director Luke Smith discussed its price in an interview with Eurogamer yesterday. The next Destiny DLC is priced at $40 dollars for gamers who already own the game and the two existing DLCs: The Dark Below and House of Wolves. Many feel this price is unfair when you consider the base game was $60 and offered so many more missions and strikes. The pain is especially felt by those from the UK who are being charged £40, which is usually the price for a full game.

Smith defended the Taken King price by saying, “Purchasers get a big, rich campaign. Fully voiced cinematics and the story of what happens when an angry alien god wages war on a solar system, all with a satisfying conclusion. You also have a new subclass to pursue and unlock. We also have a bunch of new strikes - we're not yet talking about how many - and a new raid. We're showing two new PVP modes and four PVP maps this week, and it's a fairly safe bet we're not done yet showing things off. So I'm fairly excited about the value proposition. We're calling this a major expansion because it is. We're giving people a whole new place to go, that new destination.”

Additionally, Smith said Bungie are “really comfortable” with the Taken King price tag and players can expect to become more enthusiastic as the release date approaches and more details are shared.

The part that could have been handled differently relates to exclusive content to be released in the collector’s edition. This version will be available for $80 and include new emotes and cosmetic items, however, Year 1 Destiny players may have to pick up the Collector’s Edition to have access to the fresh content.   

Smith said the new content is valued at the player’s own evaluations. “There is no way right now for you to get the new dance emotes without doing that. 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.”

Smith admitted to empathizing with fans who feel they are being asked to re-purchase content they already own, but he later adds, “If I fired up a video right now and showed you the emotes, you would throw money at the screen.”

 In light of all of this, fans would be wise not to immediately burn and mutilate their copies of Destiny. It appears Bungie is now on damage control to prevent further discontent among gamers. Bungie community manager, Deej, announced in an update found on Forbes, “Year One players won’t get the same perks as people who buy a collector’s edition. They’ll get something better. Tune into the Weekly Update for more.”