Quote Originally Posted by Sarmatian View Post
Modders can adjust and actually create content before anything else comes, while when they sold piecemeal it's another situation totally. Kind of like CIV V - why would they want their game moddable so that someone can make a Babylonian civilization (like they could in CIV IV) when they can make it and sell for 0.99?
CA has more resources available than the largest mods, a huge team of experienced people working fulltime with access to the source code, while the modding community will need some time to get accustomed to the new engine. They can produce some quality DLC like their Peninsula Campaign or Rise of the Samurai addon months before any similar mods are ready. If CA adds a few new features the DLC might even become the base for mods later.
Not sure about the prospects of their unit or faction packs, but I guess they can still sell them to the multiplayer community. Also they should have the huge number of non hardcore fans that bought their games but never cared for mods as potentinial customers for quick and cheap DLC. Large R:TW mods had a few tenthousand downloads while CA sold more than a million copies. Those can be reached through ingame or Steam advertising. Mods can help to keep a game alive and sell copies longs after the big money with DLC is already made.