Would Cheaper Video Games Sell More ?

[fleischr]

sabastian said:

fleischr said:

They do sell more.

Interesting example: Mass Effect 3 on Wii U. Now selling for $10 on Amazon (was $20-30 for the last half of 2013). The game has a lot going against it. Outside the fanbase. It's an old port. Can't move your saves to it. Missing some DLC.

But now that it's selling for less, the sales have spiked considerably. If it continues it's current rate of sales, it'll be up considerably YOY from 2013. It's also outselling the 360 and PS3 version in this time frame (which are currently just a few more bucks more expensive). The only compelling reason to justify that difference is price.

But is EA raking in big money from it? Heck no. Had they priced it this aggressively much earlier on, would they be better off? You tell me!

ME is a pretty solid game.

But on the flip side of your statement, what about the publishers, will they make back enough to justify a sequel ?

It's odd situation.One could easily say, "This game is a loss leader. We lost some money, but it gives us headway towards selling a sequel more successfully to a new customer segment."

Say the game eventually sells half a million and the WiiU now has a larger userbase by that time. You could be alienating a new fanbase if you don't, but you could lose a lot of money if that fanbase doesn't take to game at full or partial retail.

The Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty franchises are in a similar damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don't situation.