Steam/D2D

[Randomthom]

I have a question, one that I believe does not have an answer barring greed...

Why have game prices stayed same/gone up (£40 for some new games) when the cost of distribution has dramatically decreased?

I'm talking about digital distribution via steam/direct2drive and other such systems.

-There is no physical media to produce, no plastic case, no manual to print, no disc to produce & print
-Nor does any of this need to be physically stored anywhere.
-It doesn't need shipping anywhere.
-There is one less "middle-man" (game store)
-Speaking of the middle man, there are fewer staff to pay
-Gaming is considerably less a niche hobby than it used to be

Yes I am aware that
-Bandwidth isn't free
-Games are more expensive to make than they used to be

So why am I being asked for more money than I used to be?

 

[Sleinous]

Probably to cover all the loss of sales through warez.

 

[Gorman]

Probably to cover all the loss of sales through warez.

Thats the BS excuse they give you, pirating has been a fact of life for software companies since day 0.

The fain factors are:

• Game studio's pushing the price up by giving every game a ridiculous Hollywood movie budget and ignoring wether the game is any good or not
• Activision
• Console games and the amount people will spend on them
• Activision
• People being willing to pay the new prices for the latest CoD4 clone
• Activision
• Activision
• Activision

 

[Sleinous]

Thats the BS excuse they give you, pirating has been a fact of life for software companies since day 0.

The fain factors are:

• Game studio's pushing the price up by giving every game a ridiculous Hollywood movie budget and ignoring wether the game is any good or not
• Activision
• Console games and the amount people will spend on them
• Activision
• People being willing to pay the new prices for the latest CoD4 clone
• Activision
• Activision
• Activision

It appears my sarcasm was lost with you my dear fellow

 

[Gorman]

Not really, i wasnt talking to you!

 

[Sleinous]

Not really, i wasnt talking to you!

Now that's just cruel :'(

 

[Evil Tactician]

Probably to cover all the loss of sales through warez.

Oh please. Games were pirated far more 10-20 years ago than they are now. Back than acquiring new games was all handled through handing floppy discs and later cd-roms back and forth at schools and between friends. And does anyone remember Twilight?

Difference is that now this practice is more well-known and a lot more people game. As a result the amount of people who pirate has gone up as well. But solutions such as the ones employed by Activision, Ubisoft and the likes are hugely counter productive. I stop buying their games altogether and buy games of the competitors who make their games far more friendly. We're talking software here guys we will ALWAYS find ways to run it the way WE want, so work WITH gamers, not AGAINST them.

Also, making games cheaper would convince more people to purchase them... Sorry but hell will freeze over before I pay £40 for a game that might enjoy me for 10 hours at most. It's rare these days that games last longer, and even those aren't worth that kind of money.

Rant over.

 

[JSG10]

Sorry but hell will freeze over before I pay £40 for a game that might enjoy me for 10 hours at most. It's rare these days that games last longer, and even those aren't worth that kind of money.

Rant over.

This.
I don't actually know why I pay so much for my Xbox 360 games... takes the proverbial if you ask me. Yet I still do, but when it comes to PC games, I refuse to pay so much... £40 for a PC game?! That I can download? For free? I think not.
I actually don't fully agree with pirating etc but I simply refuse to pay so much when I can wait a week or two and download me a fully working free version. If they lowered the prices a bit I'd more than likely never download an illegal copy again! Shooting themselves in the foot big time I think.

 

[Sleinous]

Oh please. Games were pirated far more 10-20 years ago than they are now. Back than acquiring new games was all handled through handing floppy discs and later cd-roms back and forth at schools and between friends. And does anyone remember Twilight?

Difference is that now this practice is more well-known and a lot more people game. As a result the amount of people who pirate has gone up as well. But solutions such as the ones employed by Activision, Ubisoft and the likes are hugely counter productive. I stop buying their games altogether and buy games of the competitors who make their games far more friendly. We're talking software here guys we will ALWAYS find ways to run it the way WE want, so work WITH gamers, not AGAINST them.

Also, making games cheaper would convince more people to purchase them... Sorry but hell will freeze over before I pay £40 for a game that might enjoy me for 10 hours at most. It's rare these days that games last longer, and even those aren't worth that kind of money.

Rant over.

Clearly my sarcasm was lost on someone else too lol... >.< Why do I bother. Why oh why.

 

[Kalisnoir]

You'll find that most PC games have actually gone down. Look at release games, PC versions sell for less than the console versions to make up for more people moving over to consoles.

 

[Sleinous]

Also, most release games can be bought for less via Amazon, especially if you wait a week. Oh noes a week...so long...No.