Bethesda’s ‘Knights of the Nine’ DLC is their new model

Bethesda hit the downloadable content sweet spot with their “Knights of the Nine” expansion for Oblivion. In a recent conversation with Gamasutra, Bethesda’s vice president Pete Hines spoke about the experimental approach the studio took with Oblivion’s inconsistently price and sized DLC and how they’re applying what they’ve learned to Fallout 3.

“We did the entire spectrum for the most part. We did small things and then we did the really huge thing [with The Shivering Isles for Oblivion],” Hine said. “We did what I think was the first ever full expansion on a console for download.

“We looked at what we liked and what we didn’t, and what the people liked,” Hines continued. “What we discovered was that we want to be able to do stuff that doesn’t take a year to come out.”

So, how do you save yourself a year? Create semi-fairly priced mini-expansions like “Knights of the Nine.” Hines said that Bethesda started looking at the biggest DLC that fans appreciated and opted for the sorta large stuff that Bethesda could bring out in “smaller, digestible chunks.” Enter “Knights of the Nine.” Its smaller development time coupled with hours of gameplay and new additions work for both Bethesda and fans. Hines said “Knights of the Nine”-type content (think “The Pitt“) allow Bethesda to “get it out without waiting forever,” which is ultimately the reason why we’re seeing chunkier DLC in Fallout 3.

I think Fallout 3’s story and side quests are short affairs to begin with. Wouldn’t a mega expansion like “Shivering Isles” benefit a game that everyone has thoroughly beaten at this point? “The Pitt” and “Operation: Anchorage” were fine, but the level 20 cap and the expansions’ non-complex stories are beginning to bum me out. What do you guys think?

(Update: Minor update on readability. Pardon me.)