Despite the praise heaped on The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion in retrospect (and certainly also at the time), let us not forget that it also kickstarted the microtransaction craze that continues to drag the industry down to this day. $2.50 Horse Armor, a much-maligned piece of Oblivion DLC widely regarded as the first microtransaction, has become a long-running joke in the gaming space. Bethesda themselves even tried to laugh about it later on in Fallout 4, as if they weren't responsible for opening that Pandora's box.
Without a hint of irony, Elden Ring, also regarded one of the best games of its time, has also revealed actual, literal horse armor DLC. A far cry from the game's previous DLC, the absolutely excellent Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, these extra goodies are bundled with the upcoming Switch 2 edition but, of course, will be sold off by themselves for other platforms.
It's a weird choice, given that much more substantive content like NPC questlines and a multiplayer arena has been added for free in the past, and one can only hope it won't become a trend… but then again, look at Oblivion. Bloodborne 2 won't pay for itself, I guess.
Previously:
• Fire-breathing Arthurian motorcycle
• Wicked Klingon-style blades for kids' furniture and toys
• Funny video shows a woman using a fake skeleton to train a horse
