However, this justification overlooks the economic reality of post-launch development. Frontier is a publicly traded company with ongoing costs for artists, animators, programmers, and QA testers. DLC sales directly fund free updates—such as the 1.15 update’s new camera modes and foliage scaling—that benefit all players, regardless of DLC ownership. When a user activates an unlocker, they consume server-hosted workshop items that incorporate DLC-specific pieces, contribute to multiplayer franchise mode leaderboards, and download patch data that includes DLC assets (a common technical measure to ensure cross-compatibility). They thus impose costs on Frontier without contributing revenue. In aggregate, widespread unlocker use could erode the business case for continued support, leading to fewer species, shorter support windows, or the premature end of one of the most pro-conservation games on the market.