aubergine
16-08-2009, 07:22 PM
Here's an article up on Eurogamer on the subject of sane digital download pricing (http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/pricing-on-demand-article), compared to Microsoft's model.
Even though Games On Demand is the main subject it's broad to all download services and the significance for Games On Demand to the whole industry, well it's like boxless gaming is getting serious now that even consoles are doing it.
Watching M$ backpedal on $100 Mass Effect is going to be interesting. Will they ninja-edit the price in the wee hours of the morning one night? Or will they wait many moons and then pretend that they are putting it "on sale" for a price which will still be above or comparable to retail?
The article takes a holistic look at it, briefly but importantly citing $1 games on iPhones. I could potentially play Civ Revolution (bugs and all) or Bookworm for longer than Mass Effect - not to discredit the genius of the game but it's ****ing AU$30-$50 new if you look.
The problem is, SRPs aren't relevant to what consumers actually pay. Routinely discounted 20 per cent by high street stores at launch, with even steeper discounts online, within a month they're in second-hand bins with as much as 50 per cent knocked off. A year later, a game launched at ($120) may be selling for as little as ($40) or even ($30). Besides, SRPs apply only to one small part of the industry.
There's a whole sector worth tens of millions of dollars already where prices range from 59 pence up to £4.99 - the iPhone App Store. There's a billion-dollar product called World of Warcraft, and a host of smaller rivals, which charge a monthly subscription. For some games, the cost is variable - you pay according to how much you play, or which items you want to use. For some, it's free - revenue comes instead through advertising or promotional value.
...
There is, quite simply, a fantasy of game pricing and value to which publishers adhere with all the passion of a nun clutching rosary beads on a rapidly sinking ship. In this fantasy, game SRPs are a meaningful measure of what consumers actually pay for games, and the retail prices discussed in executive meetings are a reflection of the perceived value of those games.
Even though Games On Demand is the main subject it's broad to all download services and the significance for Games On Demand to the whole industry, well it's like boxless gaming is getting serious now that even consoles are doing it.
Watching M$ backpedal on $100 Mass Effect is going to be interesting. Will they ninja-edit the price in the wee hours of the morning one night? Or will they wait many moons and then pretend that they are putting it "on sale" for a price which will still be above or comparable to retail?
The article takes a holistic look at it, briefly but importantly citing $1 games on iPhones. I could potentially play Civ Revolution (bugs and all) or Bookworm for longer than Mass Effect - not to discredit the genius of the game but it's ****ing AU$30-$50 new if you look.
The problem is, SRPs aren't relevant to what consumers actually pay. Routinely discounted 20 per cent by high street stores at launch, with even steeper discounts online, within a month they're in second-hand bins with as much as 50 per cent knocked off. A year later, a game launched at ($120) may be selling for as little as ($40) or even ($30). Besides, SRPs apply only to one small part of the industry.
There's a whole sector worth tens of millions of dollars already where prices range from 59 pence up to £4.99 - the iPhone App Store. There's a billion-dollar product called World of Warcraft, and a host of smaller rivals, which charge a monthly subscription. For some games, the cost is variable - you pay according to how much you play, or which items you want to use. For some, it's free - revenue comes instead through advertising or promotional value.
...
There is, quite simply, a fantasy of game pricing and value to which publishers adhere with all the passion of a nun clutching rosary beads on a rapidly sinking ship. In this fantasy, game SRPs are a meaningful measure of what consumers actually pay for games, and the retail prices discussed in executive meetings are a reflection of the perceived value of those games.