$59.99 PC Games, will it last?

[lacktheknack]

I never pay that much. Steam sales let me do so.

 

[Mcface]

I'm sure they won't go back down, but I don't agree with it being purely because production cost has gone up. I think they just realized they can get away with the price increase anyway, and almost all of the games in this price-range so-far for PC has made tons of money, that wouldn't have changed if it was at it's previous level.

I'd be willing to bet it's because there is less money being made in the PC game market.
It used to be cheaper because it was easier to put out, since the code was already formatted for PCs, and they are generally easier to code and program games on.

But with the thousands and thousands of pirates, it no longer makes sense to charge less. They need to charge the people who actually pay more, to make up the difference between the 20 thousand people who will steal the game.

Well, atleast we got to page 2 before the old reliable "blame the pirates" nonsense came out. I guess we should expect DS games to increase by $10 too because I hear the piracy on the DS is bad.

10 thousand games pirated, times 50 dollars = 500,000 dollar profit loss.

here are some pirate numbers.
1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (4,100,000, Nov. 2009)
2. The Sims 3 (3,200,000, June 2009)
3. Prototype (2,350,000, June 2009)
4. Need For Speed Shift (2,100,000, Sept. 2009)
5. Street Fighter IV (1,850,000, July 2009)

I'm pretty sure 4 million stolen games is more than enough to cause a price change.

Did they poll pirates to get those numbers?

No, it is according to BitTorrent tracking records.

 

[lacktheknack]

As long as what I'm paying for has an appropriate amount of content to make it worth the 60 bucks. That kind of why I prefer digital distribution anyways due to the lowered price, although I wish developers would take advantage of that so that we could do away with the waste generated from packaging/materials and the cost of being held in stores.

Lower price? Isn't Medal of Honor $59.99 on Steam too?

I think he means the fact that Steam does massive and ridiculous sales to try get people like me to buy more games.

Anyway I don't care I have not personally bought a single game that has cost over 30euro maybe even 25euro in the last 2 or 3 years.

So it's ok if the games MSRP is $60, $70, $80, etc... so long as you can wait it out and get a deal somewhere?

Yes.

Just because I CAN get STALKER for two dollars doesn't mean that all games should be priced two dollars, it simply means waiting for two years was worth it.

 

[Ewyx]

Great! That'll stop the pirates! God forbid they'd try to change their business model.

I swear to god, RIAA will sooner get a better business model than the gaming industry, and that's pretty sad.

 

[Knusper]

In the UK, top games reach £30, which I'm sure doesn't match $60 at the current exchange rate (1:0.626), so I guess it's that good being British.

O.T. No, I don't think it will last because PC game prices are lower because otherwise more people would pirate them, and so they would end up making less money, which is one reason why Steam has such ridiculous sales.

 

[SwagLordYoloson]

$50 ? thats like 50% off what i usually have to pay

 

[Xanadu84]

I'm betting that as Digital Distribution grows in popularity, prices will drop a bit. There is still competition amongst developers, and as it gets cheaper to distribute, prices will eventually reflect that.

 

[Glademaster_v1legacy]

As long as what I'm paying for has an appropriate amount of content to make it worth the 60 bucks. That kind of why I prefer digital distribution anyways due to the lowered price, although I wish developers would take advantage of that so that we could do away with the waste generated from packaging/materials and the cost of being held in stores.

Lower price? Isn't Medal of Honor $59.99 on Steam too?

I think he means the fact that Steam does massive and ridiculous sales to try get people like me to buy more games.

Anyway I don't care I have not personally bought a single game that has cost over 30euro maybe even 25euro in the last 2 or 3 years.

So it's ok if the games MSRP is $60, $70, $80, etc... so long as you can wait it out and get a deal somewhere?

Yes it is because do you why? Demand drops therefore they must drop their price to try increase demand it is simple Economics. Inflations does have a role in increasing prices but if people aren't buying they have to lower their prices. If people want to pay for overpriced products that is their business but no game on any platform new is worth over 45 euro.

 

[Deadlock Radium]

Is $59.99 really something to complain about? In Norway, each new game costs 600 NOK, which is the equivalent to about 100-120 US Dollars for the console games, and about 4-500 NOK for PC games, which is $80-100.
Now complain about whether or not your games are expensive.

 

[Mcface]

I'm sure they won't go back down, but I don't agree with it being purely because production cost has gone up. I think they just realized they can get away with the price increase anyway, and almost all of the games in this price-range so-far for PC has made tons of money, that wouldn't have changed if it was at it's previous level.

I'd be willing to bet it's because there is less money being made in the PC game market.
It used to be cheaper because it was easier to put out, since the code was already formatted for PCs, and they are generally easier to code and program games on.

But with the thousands and thousands of pirates, it no longer makes sense to charge less. They need to charge the people who actually pay more, to make up the difference between the 20 thousand people who will steal the game.

Well, atleast we got to page 2 before the old reliable "blame the pirates" nonsense came out. I guess we should expect DS games to increase by $10 too because I hear the piracy on the DS is bad.

10 thousand games pirated, times 50 dollars = 500,000 dollar profit loss.

here are some pirate numbers.
1. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (4,100,000, Nov. 2009)
2. The Sims 3 (3,200,000, June 2009)
3. Prototype (2,350,000, June 2009)
4. Need For Speed Shift (2,100,000, Sept. 2009)
5. Street Fighter IV (1,850,000, July 2009)

I'm pretty sure 4 million stolen games is more than enough to cause a price change.

Did they poll pirates to get those numbers?

No, it is according to BitTorrent tracking records.

..and those records became available to EA and other publishers how? How accurate are they? Do they show what people did with their downloads?

What are the sales of those games in respect to the piracy numbers?

How is raising the price fighting piracy?

Look this isn't about recovering lost sales, it is idiotic to claim that all those downloads were paying customers anyway. It is about them charging what they think you are willing to pay. You can throw out justifications all you like but at the end of the day of MoH didn't sell at $60 they would lower the price and that has nothing to do with pirates.

Im saying its a possibility, at the least it's a valid reason someone could use.
But there is no real reason PC games cost less than console games. They sell far less legit copies compared to their console counterparts, and they are easily pirated. Of course the price is going to increase over time.

 

[Serenegoose]

Games that expensive will last as long as people are willing to pay for them.

That is, they're here to stay for good.

 

[scotth266]

Hey, you know what?

Maybe you could wait, say, four months. Then the game will be $20 cheaper. Or at the very least the "Game Of The Year" edition will be out, with all the DLC. Either way, YOU save money!

...Or you could just be entitled and whine about how high the prices are. That works too I guess.

 

[ThePirateMan]

Most of these highered prices seem to be on big "blockbuster" games.

Like Modern Warfare 2 and Medal of Honor.

But most other new releases (New Vegas, Gothic 4, Civ 5, etc) seem to still go by the average 40-50£.

So they havn't gone up yet, but they might be heading there.

I'm hoping that it will stay with the big bland FPSes.

Edit:

Just checked through the Steam front page, couldn't find a single game going past 50 except for MoH and MW 2.

 

[Mercsenary]

As long as people buy it the price will stay the same or go up. In this case its going up. supply and demand I believe. Consumers demand it, companies supply it and as such can raise the price until demand levels off...

Much like how gas companies are doing it...

 

[Thedayrecker]

I usually don't buy new anyways. But it is pure, blatant profiteering.

 

[Serenegoose]

Is $59.99 really something to complain about? In Norway, each new game costs 600 NOK, which is the equivalent to about 100-120 US Dollars for the console games, and about 4-500 NOK for PC games, which is $80-100.
Now complain about whether or not your games are expensive.

That logic is poor. So because you're being even more ripped off for your games, we should all shut up and take it?

How about no? I mean, you have my sympathies, but under that logic the only person allowed to complain about anything at any time is that poor, orphaned child soldier in africa with AIDs and a cocaine habit and 3 children who has it worse than anybody else.