Xbox One Digital Game Prices Raised

UltimateUnknown

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UltimateUnknown on 10 December 2013

Landguy said:

Seece said:

jabberjawky72 said:
This has always been such backwards logic to me... They make more money from digital sales than they do from physical ones, so why not make digital prices slightly cheaper in order to encourage gamers to move from buying physical to buying digital? Isn't that what Xbone is all about anyway? Am I missing something here?

They don't wanna piss retailers off. I believe there is truth in that, but I don't think MS/Sony ect are losing sleep over charging more.

That is the real answer, RETAIL. Until the retail channel is out of the gaming business, you will see High prices. They can't undercut retail prices, as nobody would buy them there.

This is the main problem here. They constantly cry about retail taking away from their profits by selling used games, but at the same time they suck up to retailers like a masochist who likes to get beaten and comes back for more. They don't want to lower price of digital to move people away from retail while giving retailers extra pre-order bonuses, so people are naturally drawn towards retail.

So either publishers need to stop crying about retailers taking a cut of their profits and keep their digital prices high to keep retailers happy, or just take the risk, pickle off retailers but make significantly lower digital prices to draw people away from retailers and kill them off the equation completely. They need to choose.

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dreamcast210 on 10 December 2013

Somini said:

dreamcast210 said:
This is actually quite simple to understand. MS and Sony have to keep their retailers happy. To do so, not only should they have consoles to sell but games to sell, too. This draws people into the store where they might make other purchases not related to gaming.

So, by keeping the digital price slightly lower, equal, or slightly higher than the physical retail disc, this ensures people will still by the physical medium in the traditional way.

If the price was significantly lower, say 40%, physical purchases would drop drastically. And so would the retailer relationships set up by Sony and MS for over a decade or more. Why would retailers push to sell a console that can't generate extra income for the company over the course of 5-10 years?

You can point to the iPad and say this is a moot point, but that's really a computing device with multiple purposes. Also, a console sells to a household whereas a tablet could sell to each member of a family.

So much for a Digital only future then!! Pff this could be one of the reason why retailers don't like the Vita.

It will happen, just at a slower pace. Look at CD/MP3, Blu-Ray/HD Digital, Print Books/E-books. They all have gone this route with the pricing being pretty close for both mediums. It makes for a slower transition, but eventually it will happen and then pricing will get lower.

The savior in this, as it has been with books, will be the indie game developer. If they have the ability to price their games how they want, they can make an impact on the digital pricing of traditionally published digital games.

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Xenostar on 10 December 2013

Somini said:

Xenostar said:

Somini said:

kowenicki said:
So who can I blame for this?

Gaf? Sony?

How much are new digital first party PS4 games on PSN now?

Sony began with 49,99 but lowered them to 44,99.

Can anyone find the article about this?

no they didnt the first party ones are all 52.99, 3rd parties lowered there prices from £60 to £54.99 tho, after some consumer pressure.

Jesus, so even more expensive then!

What's going on, is this because the gen is just starting? Or have they secretly raised the MSRP prices and this is the new standard?

PS3 and Xbox 360 games go for 39,99 on amazon.co.uk when they are just released.

Im sure new gen and no second hand market is keeping prices high for launch, but those digital prices are a joke, dont know anyone that buys digital, but im guessing there must be some with more money than sence that do.

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ethomaz on 10 December 2013

Sony prices for reference...

US: $59.99
EU: £52.99 (1st) / £54.99 (3rd)

Amazon: $49.99

Yeap... you need to buy games on Amazon PSN Store guys with a lot of deals.

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DamnTastic on 10 December 2013

dem prices make the steambox more attravtive.

But first see how that will turn out

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DamnTastic on 10 December 2013

ethomaz said:

Sony prices for reference...

US: $59.99
EU: £52.99 (1st) / £54.99 (3rd)

Amazon: $49.99

Yeap... you need to buy games on Amazon PSN Store guys with a lot of deals.

Eurozone is 70€ retail/digital.

1st party is 70€ retail and 60€ digital and smaller titles are also 60€ (like for ps4 lego super heroes and injsutice)

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kitler53 on 10 December 2013

ethomaz said:

Sony prices for reference...

US: $59.99
EU: £52.99 (1st) / £54.99 (3rd)

Amazon: $49.99

Yeap... you need to buy games on Amazon PSN Store guys with a lot of deals.

yeah, i've been watching that too and the amazon psn store is really good compared to the raw psn store.

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The Fury on 10 December 2013

Welcome to MicroSoft's digital (more expensive) future.

ethomaz said:

Yeap... you need to buy games on Amazon PSN Store guys with a lot of deals.

Yes, but it's not available in the UK, unless the codes work wherever I am, so buying a digital copy of a game on Amazon PSN can be used on UK Store?

This is the kind of competition we need on PSN and XBL. If they could put these store on the console itself, along side PS Store, then the 2 (or more) stores would compete leading to cheaper games and great deals.

Hmm, pie.