Deep Rock Galactic studio remakes cosmetic DLC after fans complain: 'You’re putting down good money for these items, and you want them to stand out—we hear you!'

We said back in April that Deep Rock Galactic has "one of the last positive communities left in gaming," but even among that crew, there are limits. Those boundaries were reached earlier this month when developer Ghost Ship Games unveiled the new Decontaminator Pack cosmetic DLC. To put it bluntly, players did not care for it.

  • "I'm not gonna sugarcoat it, these frameworks are kinda ass" - Mayor of Pyroland
  • "I usually buy all cosmetics dono about this one lol its really bad looking compared to all the others" - 1 Corinthians 15:1-4
  • "Looks extremely low effort compared to the previous ones" - Badger
  • "Not a fan of this one. Lots of medicore paintjobs and no armor or pickaxe parts. The paintjobs dont look that interesting to me, again the same colors that are already in the game but nothing new ... Will still buy it, but more to support game development than for the actual content" - Aimee
  • "i like paintjob for weapons but framework and armor paintjob is just meh, it seems its gonna be weakest DLC so far" - Gutekx
  • "Probably the worst one so far, no offense" - XLbuff

To be fair, those negative comments are much gentler and more respectful than a lot of the complaints about games that you see online. Ghost Ship Games has taken the criticism to heart, and the cosmetics will be changed.

"Frameworks and Armors are peculiar entities, and what might look super cool to some, might read as boring to others—and especially in the case of DLC packs, we are learning that more bling tends to be received better," the studio said in an update. "You’re putting down good money for these items, and you want them to stand out—we hear you!

"So, in order to make this a DLC worth adding to your collection, we decided to tweak the Weapon Framework, and update the Paintjob. We’ve focused on making the guns stand out a lot more with some brand new attachments, adding vials and digital displays to lean more into the 'Decontaminator' theme."

Here's what it looked like originally:

(Image credit: Ghost Ship Games)

(Image credit: Ghost Ship Games)

(Image credit: Ghost Ship Games)

(Image credit: Ghost Ship Games)

And here's what it looks like now:

(Image credit: Ghost Ship Games)

(Image credit: Ghost Ship Games)

(Image credit: Ghost Ship Games)

(Image credit: Ghost Ship Games)

Those who liked the original design aren't being left out: Ghost Ship said it will be added to the next Deep Rock Galactic "Performance Pass," meaning players will be able to unlock it through gameplay.

The community response to the updated DLC plan has been predictably positive, even among people who thought the original DLC was fine. Redditor thatsnotwhatIneed summed up the mood nicely: "DRG's devs are truly above and beyond the call for what they do and I hope they're rolling in bank for their rock-and-stone ethics. For anyone that (understandably) resents MTX and battle passes, I hope what the team does here makes it palatable for them."

The Deep Rock Galactic Decontaminator Pack is set to go live on June 15.

Andy Chalk

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.