Poll: Why are US game developers ripping off the UK

[chozo_hybrid]

Dude, it's not just the UK.

The Aussie dollar has been floating around parity with the US dollar for the last couple of months, yet a new release game here still costs between $80 - $120.

It's far better economically to purchase a game direct from the US rather than buy it here. Even with postage I come out ahead anywhere from $20 to $60 better off.

In New Zealand, we get it a little worse still, the average title comes out around $120 to $140 NZ dollars. This is why it pisses me off when people from other countries complain about prices sometimes, when they get it for less then half sometimes.

 

[veloper]

Wait what?
You bought Arcania? Sir that game is a ripoff even for 1 pound.

 

[twiceworn]

even with vat tax and uk markups i find adding £15 to the price of any given game hard to agree with as it should still be at least £5 cheeper if not £10 and i could get the same games £10 cheeper even with shipping making it totaly unexceptable as we really are being riped off

 

[Anchupom]

Its not the americans ripping off the UK.
It's the UK ripping off the UK.

 

[Daveman]

The cost of living in the UK is much higher than the US in general, not just games are affected. The average cost of petrol over here is almost double the amount Americans pay.

On the other side, is that the average wage in the UK is higher than America and so the prices don't seem quite as high to us as they would to an American.

That's taxes more than anthing, which we get with games but I'm pretty sure VAT is only 20%... so there must be some other costs in there somewhere. tbh this is why I never pay more than £30 for a game on principle.

 

[GiantRedButton]

Note that American prices are usually without vats, but the price difference is still higher then vats.
Your still getting better prices then continental europe though.
Infact i think they have the second best prices when it comes to western nations.

 

[Natasha_LB]

This would explain why the Uk has a higher piracy rate than the US. UK's rate is 26%, US's 24%, and Australia's is 28%!!

This actually give me an idea.... Morally correct pirating. From now on, for every 2 full price games you buy, go ahead and steal one without feeling guilty, this means that you'd be paying around £26 per game, much fairer! I kid of course, I don't recommended anyone really does this... even if it does seems like the fairest option.

 

[LawlessSquirrel]

In New Zealand, we get it a little worse still, the average title comes out around $120 to $140 NZ dollars. This is why it pisses me off when people from other countries complain about prices sometimes, when they get it for less then half sometimes.

I was unaware of this. You poor souls, getting milked of your money for no good reason (that sounds a little sarcastic, but it's not).

Aussie, prices higher, etc. etc. Been said already.

If it makes you feel better, people like me order from the UK to get around our own problems, so we at best have your price + postage. If the UK price goes down, it benefits us too.

But yes, you're getting ripped off. We're getting more ripped off. Apparently New Zealand is getting even more ripped off. A little change in price is to be expected from import fees, but as is it's almost certainly just corporate greed and nothing more.

This would explain why the Uk has a higher piracy rate than the US. UK's rate is 26%, US's 24%, and Australia's is 28%!!

This actually give me an idea.... Morally correct pirating. From now on, for every 2 full price games you buy, go ahead and steal one without feeling guilty, this means that you'd be paying around £26 per game, much fairer! I kid of course, I don't recommended anyone really does this... even if it does seems like the fairest option.

I actually wonder about the moral issues with 'ethical piracy'. The actual developers are on the losing end of everything since they get a minuscule amount of money per sale, the publisher gets more, but the retailers get the most. Would it be unethical to pirate a game, but send money to the developer equalling the original (greed-free) purchase price? I mean, I support the developers, but the retailers kind of piss me off.

 

[veloper]

Note that American prices are usually without vats, but the price difference is still higher then vats.
Your still getting better prices then continental europe though.
Infact i think they have the second best prices when it comes to western nations.

Nope. Price difference for games between euroland and the US is about 20%, which is also the VAT rate in most european nations.

(on second thought: I should check the exchange rates more often. We pay 35% more now, so we get slightly ripped off)

 

[RicoGrey]

UK citizens pay more because they are chumps. I don't mean that in such a negative way, what I mean is they are TOO NICE. Seriously, studies, which I don't have links to, have shown that UK citizens will tolerate bad service, shoddy merchandise, and higher prices.

US citizens however, demand refunds if the product/service comes up even a little short of their expectations.

There are other forces at work too, regarding pricing, but really, US citizens will throw an absolute fit if they feel prices are too high. Heck, we will throw a fit just because we know we can get the prices lower, or get better service.

Naturally that will not apply to all US/UK citizens, but the study I read showed a tendency.

 

[Sephychu]

Who do we take this up with?

It is a sign of how bad times are when even in Britain, the very capital of such things, there is nobody to complain to.

 

[Squilookle]

Oh, the ironing. The topic is about UK game prices. Not about if it upsets Aussies to hear people in other countries complain about game prices.

Sure, and you've never been on a thread that had tangents before, right? Too much time ironing, perhaps?

 

[Zaik]

The mistake you're making is assuming that game *developers* are doing this.

It's the publishers, they know you'll pay it so they have no reason to change it.

I'm not saying it's right, but that's why it is.

 

[Merkavar]

yeah its the same in australia. with US games being cheaper. Even on places like steam where its a digital copy so no shipping and its basically the same product i would pay like $30 more than if i paid in US$.

Like dragon age 1 was like $50 USD on steam and $80 AUD and the exchange rate at the time was near 1:1 with the USD so it made no sense except cause steam was matching its prices with retail prices in australia

 

[Pyro Paul]

There is a Value Added Tax on most every thing sold, here in the US people might better know it as a 'sales tax'. one thing that may contribute to a price discrepency is the fact that some countries have a marginally higher VAT then others. in the US you're looking at a 10-16% VAT while in the UK you can see it in excessive of 20% (25% being the max).

another thing is that I Believe Items sold in the UK and EU should show their VAT as apart of the ultimate price. In the US, you're Sales tax is added AFTER you buy it. so a $40 game may ultimatly cost you $45 in the end.

aside from these points there is also the changes a developer must make in order to change it from the NTSC to PAL encoding, the additional paper work, and other laws and customs they must conform to in order to put the game on shelves in that country. all of these add to the over all price.

 

[C95J]

wouldn't the prices be related to the cost of importing the games to different countries?

 

[Delta2501]

I think what it is really about is the producers charging what the market will bear. This is why region-protection exists (and is enforced fairly strongly in some cases) in the first place, so that publishers can charge different prices in different territories. It's basically a refusal to accept globalisation and attempt to profit from keeping the global market divided not unified.

Fortunately for consumers current access to the internet and import services means this is getting increasingly hard to sustain. Doesn't seem to be stopping Nintendo thinking about putting region protection on the 3DS though...

 

[veloper]

aside from these points there is also the changes a developer must make in order to change it from the NTSC to PAL encoding,

That was a long time ago. Modern consoles render everything in 720 HD and can scale back in hardware to any rez, if necessary.
On the PC this has never been an issue at all.

 

[EightGaugeHippo]

Boo hoo.
The Australian dollar is pretty much level with the American dollar, and yet we pay over a hundred dollars for each new release. While the pricing in your region/country may suck, rest assured that you're not being ripped off as badly as we are.

BLIMEY! I think it would be cheaper to do heroine every weekend than it is to keep uptodate with games in Austrailia.