Next gen EA games to cost £55

[Roxor]

No this isn't a placeholder price, a recent blog post by UK retailer GAME confirmed [http://playstationnews.game.co.uk/ps4-faq/] EA games will cost £55 next gen:

At present, the only publisher to confirm costs of their next generation games are EA, attaching a price of £54.99. No other game prices have been confirmed.

Now in case you're wondering £55 is roughly $80USD!

EA, ladies and gentlemen. The company who's CEO said games were too expensive [http://www.digitmemo.com/articles/686/ea-boss-says-games-too-expensive/] and the $59 needed to die are now going to be charging British gamers $80 a pop, and have recently increased prices [http://www.polygon.com/2013/7/5/4497062/indian-pc-gamers-protest-ea-price-hikes-via-twitter] on Origin in India from around $25 to around $60, despite the fact that Indian gamers have less income on average than western gamers.

I honestly don't understand EA. They make out that they're trying to turn over a new leaf and then they go and pull shit like this. It's almost as if they like bad PR.

What are your thoughts on this? Personally I think EA can shove it, there's no way in hell I'm paying that much for a game.

And this is shocking, how...? We've been getting ripped off on game prices down here in Australia for decades. Stop complaining about getting equal treatment.

 

[Teoes]

Inflation, blah blah, gotta pay for dem graphics and zee emoshuns somehow. And make no mistake: there'll be a shitstorm on this and many other threads, but in the main folks'll keep on buying.

Whoop another line on the "Don't Buy From EA" list.

Spoiler

 

[Hazy992]

No this isn't a placeholder price, a recent blog post by UK retailer GAME confirmed [http://playstationnews.game.co.uk/ps4-faq/] EA games will cost £55 next gen:

At present, the only publisher to confirm costs of their next generation games are EA, attaching a price of £54.99. No other game prices have been confirmed.

Now in case you're wondering £55 is roughly $80USD!

EA, ladies and gentlemen. The company who's CEO said games were too expensive [http://www.digitmemo.com/articles/686/ea-boss-says-games-too-expensive/] and the $59 needed to die are now going to be charging British gamers $80 a pop, and have recently increased prices [http://www.polygon.com/2013/7/5/4497062/indian-pc-gamers-protest-ea-price-hikes-via-twitter] on Origin in India from around $25 to around $60, despite the fact that Indian gamers have less income on average than western gamers.

I honestly don't understand EA. They make out that they're trying to turn over a new leaf and then they go and pull shit like this. It's almost as if they like bad PR.

What are your thoughts on this? Personally I think EA can shove it, there's no way in hell I'm paying that much for a game.

And this is shocking, how...? We've been getting ripped off on game prices down here in Australia for decades. Stop complaining about getting equal treatment.

Australians being overcharged doesn't make Brits being overcharged as well OK.

You're also ignoring the fact that Australians make more money than Brits in the first place.

According to this [http://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/national-minimum-wage/Pages/default.aspx] the Australian minimum wage is $16.37AUD, in the UK it's about $10. You have a higher GDP than we do and a lower rate of income inequality of course you're going to pay more.

That's like us complaining we pay more than Russian gamers. Of course that's going to happen, $60 in Russia is going to go a lot further than $60 in the UK.

 

[Anthony Corrigan]

No this isn't a placeholder price, a recent blog post by UK retailer GAME confirmed [http://playstationnews.game.co.uk/ps4-faq/] EA games will cost £55 next gen:

At present, the only publisher to confirm costs of their next generation games are EA, attaching a price of £54.99. No other game prices have been confirmed.

Now in case you're wondering £55 is roughly $80USD!

EA, ladies and gentlemen. The company who's CEO said games were too expensive [http://www.digitmemo.com/articles/686/ea-boss-says-games-too-expensive/] and the $59 needed to die are now going to be charging British gamers $80 a pop, and have recently increased prices [http://www.polygon.com/2013/7/5/4497062/indian-pc-gamers-protest-ea-price-hikes-via-twitter] on Origin in India from around $25 to around $60, despite the fact that Indian gamers have less income on average than western gamers.

I honestly don't understand EA. They make out that they're trying to turn over a new leaf and then they go and pull shit like this. It's almost as if they like bad PR.

What are your thoughts on this? Personally I think EA can shove it, there's no way in hell I'm paying that much for a game.

And this is shocking, how...? We've been getting ripped off on game prices down here in Australia for decades. Stop complaining about getting equal treatment.

Australians being overcharged doesn't make Brits being overcharged as well OK.

You're also ignoring the fact that Australians make more money than Brits in the first place.

According to this [http://www.fairwork.gov.au/pay/national-minimum-wage/Pages/default.aspx] the Australian minimum wage is $16.37AUD, in the UK it's about $10. You have a higher GDP than we do and a lower rate of income inequality of course you're going to pay more.

That's like us complaining we pay more than Russian gamers. Of course that's going to happen, $60 in Russia is going to go a lot further than $60 in the UK.

So according to you the reason we pay more is the rest of you are jealous of us because how dare we have more money than you? (assuming that's even true)

So in that case if I searched around I could find a thread by you complaining about how unjust it is that EA has increased the price for India right?

Edit to add its interesting to see these view points coming from the Americans around here (realize your not but others in this thread are) considering the fact that as a country it seems that the tax burden is always put on the lower income groups there as taxes are slashed for the higher tax brackets. Not to mention does Bill gates get charged a "wealthy" tax when he buys something? does he have to pay more than anyone else buying the same game from the same store? (because for digital content its the SAME BUILDING the server we are buying from is in, probably the same server, certainly is for Blizzard)

 

[Smooth Operator]

That is 82 USD actually, and the solution is simple really... EA can't afford to lose that market, if your region stops buying anything at that price they will have no choice but to go lower.

 

[Hazy992]

So according to you the reason we pay more is the rest of you are jealous of us because how dare we have more money than you? (assuming that's even true)

Man, you've built such a huge strawman it's like I'm at a Burning Man festival ¬_¬

As I said before would it be fair if Russian gamers had to pay the same amount as me, even though British gamers have more income on average? What's the difference here? Purchasing power and the value of your particular currency are obviously taken into account when pricing goods.

So in that case if I searched around I could find a thread by you complaining about how unjust it is that EA has increased the price for India right?

I actually talked about that in the OP if you'd bothered to read it.

 

[Headdrivehardscrew]

Games cost $100aud as is. The Australian dollar is worth 95c US at the moment. Riddle me that.

That's different. You live on the other side of the planet to most of the civilized world, so there's always that excuse. Also, you got rampant socialism and quite some communism going on, those tend not to thrive where there's but insignificant amounts of other people's money and other people's problems.

There might also be some customs and taxation shenanigans going on, but I am not quite up-to-date on that matter.

 

[lunavixen]

Australians pay $100 AU for standard editions of games new release and it takes forever for the games to drop in price

snip

Ozgameshop is good, I import games from there, they come from the UK, you can also use paypal, prices are in AU dollars and I think they ship to NZ.

snip

But on the downside, a lot of the time we get less hours as casuals, I get a high rate of pay, but very low hours, I earn $160 per week on average, and jobs are hard to find at the moment.

 

[Soopy]

Games cost $100aud as is. The Australian dollar is worth 95c US at the moment. Riddle me that.

That's different. You live on the other side of the planet to most of the civilized world, so there's always that excuse. Also, you got rampant socialism and quite some communism going on, those tend not to thrive where there's but insignificant amounts of other people's money and other people's problems.

There might also be some customs and taxation shenanigans going on, but I am not quite up-to-date on that matter.

Judging by that post, you're not up on most anything...

 

[rob_simple]

Its kinda backwards, considering I can buy the same games from the USA and get them for the same price they do, plus about $10 postage...

Yes, but you are not everyone, most people prefer the convenience of going to a store and having the game straight away, or going on the PSN and downloading it straight away; publishers know this and that's why they aren't more aggressive with things like region locks. And either way, you are still giving them money, so why should they care?

Don't think I'm speaking in defense of publishers here, by the way, I'm merely laying out the logic of why a product sold in your particular country retails for twice what it does in the US. I'm not saying any of it is right, just doing the basic math using the information I've been presented with.

Snip.

Couldn't have said it better, thanks for the nice back and forth.

My pleasure, always nice to have a friendly discussion and discover how the games industry operates in different countries (i.e. what particular brand of horseshit they like to serve us).

Sorry, I hate to be that guy, but...

...It was the first thing I said. I realise how it must have sounded to you having not noticed that part, but I'm really not in the habit of defending rich people.

Yep, I am an idiot. Sorry about that, I should seriously avoid topics I don't understand well. And learn to read.

Still, despite the exchange rates, I shouldn't have to pay 70% more than the US. I'm most definitely turning to Steam now.

It's cool, I know how it is when you're in a rush to make a point, I've done it several times myself. I'd feel bad if this put you off getting involved in similar topics though; better you make mistakes and learn new things than just stick to what you know.

And I say go for it, I'd have turned to Steam years ago if I had a PC that was in any way capable of supporting gaming; my laptop can barely run a five year old Flash game.

 

[AidoZonkey]

Do EA want there company to go under? Not even the most die hard FIFA fan would pay that price.
This is just another quick cash grab by EA and I really doubt it would work.

 

[Guy from the 80's]

The only thing that would make me buy at that price would be games like Mass Effect and others of similar quality.

 

[Anthony Corrigan]

Games cost $100aud as is. The Australian dollar is worth 95c US at the moment. Riddle me that.

That's different. You live on the other side of the planet to most of the civilized world, so there's always that excuse. Also, you got rampant socialism and quite some communism going on, those tend not to thrive where there's but insignificant amounts of other people's money and other people's problems.

There might also be some customs and taxation shenanigans going on, but I am not quite up-to-date on that matter.

that effects DIGITAL content how?

and no there arent tax reasons for it, hell even PARLIAMENT (ie those who set the tax rates) feel this is so unacceptable that they held a public inquiry into it, you think they would do that if it was a TAX issue? No they wouldn't and I did the calculations before. I tunes is a perfect example, its up to 70% more per song in Australia (each of the 3 price points apple allow is 70% more in Australia than the US) than the US even for AUSTRALIAN SONGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Men at work album costs $16.99 on Australia Itunes on US itunes it costs $7.99$, thats what 47% more for the country which produced it? Thats not taxes, in fact for the $6 BILLION they earned in Australia they paid $40 million, thats a tax rate of 0.667%

https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/men-at-work-super-hits/id203843424
https://itunes.apple.com/au/album/men-at-work-super-hits/id203843424
http://www.kotaku.com.au/2013/02/why-does-apple-pay-so-little-tax-in-australia/

 

[rob_simple]

Not to mention does Bill gates get charged a "wealthy" tax when he buys something? does he have to pay more than anyone else buying the same game from the same store? (because for digital content its the SAME BUILDING the server we are buying from is in, probably the same server, certainly is for Blizzard)

I know what point you were (wrongly) trying to make here, but you could have picked someone other than the guy who has donated over $28 billion dollars to charity; given that charities are a much better way to redistribute wealth than taxes which, in America, go towards funding a pointless war and keeping the fat cats who orchestrate this corrupt tax system you speak of in power.

 

[rob_simple]

its 70% more per song in Australia than the US even for AUSTRALIAN SONGS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Men at work album costs $16.99 on Australia Itunes on US itunes it costs $7.99$, thats what 47% more for the country which produced it? Thats not taxes, in fact for the $6 BILLION they earned in Australia they paid $40 million, thats a tax rate of 0.667%

I'm really sorry if it feels like I'm picking on you --I'm honestly not-- but this is just ludicrous. Men at Work were signed to both Columbia and Sony, both American record companies; it was an American company that funded their albums (not to mention the singer is originally from Scotland).

Not that that makes a difference, because country of origin does not have any bearing on the price of a product sold worldwide. Unless you think I should be able to walk into a store anywhere in the world, pick up a Billy Connolly DVD, and immediately demand a 10% discount because we both happen to be Scottish.

 

[Anthony Corrigan]

Not to mention does Bill gates get charged a "wealthy" tax when he buys something? does he have to pay more than anyone else buying the same game from the same store? (because for digital content its the SAME BUILDING the server we are buying from is in, probably the same server, certainly is for Blizzard)

I know what point you were (wrongly) trying to make here, but you could have picked someone other than the guy who has donated over $28 billion dollars to charity; given that charities are a much better way to redistribute wealth than taxes which, in America, go towards funding a pointless war and keeping the fat cats who orchestrate this corrupt tax system you speak of in power.

I was picking someone I know, the other that popped into my head was Rupert Murdoch but I think he's in the UK not the US. Oh and so what? yep he donated some money to charity, I donate 3 days a week at least on average to St John not to mention the incidental expenses which I cant claim back because driving myself to and from volunteering and the other expenses aren't considered a donation (and because I don't get paid I can't even claim them as work expenses) so unlike him I don't get to claim any of that back on my tax. What percentage do you think that works out to be in comparison considering I'm not working right now and when I was I was a casual? No I don't feel sorry for Gates

 

[rob_simple]

Not to mention does Bill gates get charged a "wealthy" tax when he buys something? does he have to pay more than anyone else buying the same game from the same store? (because for digital content its the SAME BUILDING the server we are buying from is in, probably the same server, certainly is for Blizzard)

I know what point you were (wrongly) trying to make here, but you could have picked someone other than the guy who has donated over $28 billion dollars to charity; given that charities are a much better way to redistribute wealth than taxes which, in America, go towards funding a pointless war and keeping the fat cats who orchestrate this corrupt tax system you speak of in power.

I was picking someone I know, the other that popped into my head was Rupert Murdoch but I think he's in the UK not the US. Oh and so what? yep he donated some money to charity, I donate 3 days a week at least on average to St John not to mention the incidental expenses which I cant claim back because driving myself to and from volunteering and the other expenses aren't considered a donation (and because I don't get paid I can't even claim them as work expenses) so unlike him I don't get to claim any of that back on my tax. What percentage do you think that works out to be in comparison considering I'm not working right now and when I was I was a casual? No I don't feel sorry for Gates

Oh my god, people like you actually exist? I thought it was just a cynical joke that there were people who actually criticised the rich for donating gigantic sums of money to charity because it gave them tax breaks. Do you have any idea how large a sum of money $28 billion is, and what it can do for the right causes?

Also, citing the fact that Bill Gates is an asshole because you do charity too, and you don't even get any benefits from doing so, makes you sound like a real champion of the people.

 

[Anthony Corrigan]

Critising him for it? no its great that he gives away money but I'm not going to applaud him for it either, I just don't care. You have said that because we on average earn more we should pay more for EXACTLY the same content so you would support the same for people like Bill Gates paying more right?

YOUR the one who brought up charity work. No one else in the thread has said anything about charity, its only been that we earn more so we should pay more, well he earns WAY more than me so he should pay more right?

 

[dontlooknow]

For a start, fuck you ea. I will pay what I think a game is worth, and when games cost as much as films, sell as many as film, and are some how inexplicably priced at well over twice the price of a film, I'm pretty sure that this is already one of my more decadent purchasing habits.

But hang on, didn't Sony drop region locking for ps4? If so, that might help to mediate the costs a little bit - of course there'd be shipping costs but I doubt that'd make up the difference between, say the pound and the dollar.

I don't really know what I'm talking about here, and of course that idea goes bang if this is going to be a global price hike, in which case, double fuck you ea.

 

[ItsNotRudy]

and no one I know, including working adults can either.

Why couldn't a working adult afford it? I mean they shouldn't buy it, but all adults I know have at least 100 quid to spare by the end of the month. The adults you know must be fairly poor or living above their means if they spend their entire wage on rent and such o.x

Or have a family and kids.

If you don't have money left over by the end of the month, you shouldn't have had kids. That means that if anything happens, unexpected injury, disease or a vital appliance/vehicle breaking down, you are screwed.