User blog comment:Arbington/BioWare will be at Comic Con, and so will new Mass Effect info./@comment-5503561-20120716145518/@comment-899316-20120716185454

Actually, the MP DLC is free because of the inclusion of microtransactions in the MP Store. With a lot of people paying 80-240 MS Points for Packs, repeatedly, more money is made than by charging a one-time fee for the DLC. The multiplayer is a money making machine, and the DLC is just some oil to keep the gears of that machine from grinding together and slowing down. So long as there is new content to be acquired from the Store, people will keep playing, and, consequently, paying.