Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus - DEMO Released

[Prey]

Yeah man had I bought this at launch and saw it drop do drastically so quickly...I'd be pissed. Sadly it's the nature of the industry these days.

[Raid]

Yeah, I'm really quite surprised at how quickly even well regarded PC games are dropping in price these days. It didn't happen this quickly before this year did it?

[Sly Boots]

It's almost like publishers are over-pricing games during a time of global economic downturn and spiralling costs of living.

[Paul]

It's almost like publishers are over-pricing games during a time of global economic downturn and spiralling costs of living.

Naaaaah.

[DjchunKfunK]

Yeah man had I bought this at launch and saw it drop do drastically so quickly...I'd be pissed. Sadly it's the nature of the industry these days.

Nah, I'm quite happy to support the game on release. Part of the reason that these games are dropping in price so quickly now is that more people are waiting for them to drop in price rather than buy them at launch price leading to a quicker drop in price because launch sales are so soft and it is becoming a downward spiral.

It's almost like publishers are over-pricing games during a time of global economic downturn and spiralling costs of living.

Let's not start that again.

[katarn]

Part of the reason that these games are dropping in price so quickly now is that more people are waiting for them to drop in price rather than buy them at launch price leading to a quicker drop in price because launch sales are so soft and it is becoming a downward spiral.

If more people are waiting, could that be as a response to the higher release prices in recent years?

Perhaps the publishers are happy to sell fewer units on release, since they'll make more from the price increase from those who do buy.

It's hard to work out without access to proper sales figures, but I wince at release prices on Steam these days. I'm pretty much priced out of the hobby these days, as a buyer of new games, compared to 6 or 7 years ago - where I could order a physical copy of almost all new releases at £24-27. My only option is to wait these days.

[Sly Boots]

Part of the reason that these games are dropping in price so quickly now is that more people are waiting for them to drop in price rather than buy them at launch price leading to a quicker drop in price because launch sales are so soft and it is becoming a downward spiral.

If more people are waiting, could that be as a response to the higher release prices in recent years?

Perhaps the publishers are happy to sell fewer units on release, since they'll make more from the price increase from those who do buy.

It's hard to work out without access to proper sales figures, but I wince at release prices on Steam these days. I'm pretty much priced out of the hobby these days, as a buyer of new games, compared to 6 or 7 years ago - where I could order a physical copy of almost all new releases at £24-27. My only option is to wait these days.

This.

[DjchunKfunK]

where I could order a physical copy of almost all new releases at £24-27

Well firstly we need to ask whether there are not more games coming out now which makes it harder to buy all the new releases anyway even if they were still priced at £24-£27. If we are talking just about the PC then we are getting a lot more games what with Steam and all big budget games now getting ported over, something that didn't always use to happen. Secondly I think when people think about the cheapness of PC games in the past a lot of that is to do with Play.com and the like and how they used to get round UK tax regulations on VAT and sometimes sell games at something of a loss. So we got used to paying much less than retail for games making the jump to retail feel that much sharper. Finally with digital taking over in the retail space everything is priced at its RRP rather than being marked down in a shop or online in order to drive sales traffic through the door.

But ultimately what it boils down to is that taking into consideration inflation, game prices are not that much higher than they were ten years ago.

[katarn]

Well as a consumer, whatever the reasons, they've increased much higher than inflation. In real terms.

[DjchunKfunK]

Except they haven't.

[katarn]

It's hard to work out without access to proper sales figures, but I wince at release prices on Steam these days. I'm pretty much priced out of the hobby these days, as a buyer of new games, compared to 6 or 7 years ago - where I could order a physical copy of almost all new releases at £24-27. My only option is to wait these days.

Also, I've just realised how much I use the term 'these days' when I post. It's irritating.

[katarn]

Except they haven't.

How so? As a consumer, 6 or 7 years ago I was buying new PC games for £24-27 on release. Now the only option to buy new PC games is usually to pay £40-50.

I'm talking about the net result on me as a consumer.

[Jez]

Agree DJ. There's a few pound in the difference and yes there are expensive titles with season DLC attached whose value is really in the eye of the purchaser.

By and large I think the value provided by gaming is peerless. With the caveat that I'm buying only titles that I know I'll enjoy or I like the developers in general. With these titles I don't mind paying the day one prices.

[DjchunKfunK]

Just some examples.

Football Manager 2011 on launch was £27.99, Football Manager 2018 is £35. £27.99 is worth £34.47 today.
Fifa 11 on PS3 was £49.99, Fifa 18 on PS4 was £54.99. £49.99 is worth £61.56 today.

These are Amazon prices for physical copies.

[Sly Boots]

The problem is that many people aren't earning more than they were in 2011. I'm not. Economists are now claiming the majority won't see any increase in their pay for the next two decades. Meanwhile the cost of food, utilities, rent and so on continues to rise.

For a lot of people the increase in the price of games takes a bigger chunk out of their wallet proportionally speaking than it used to. That's why so many wait for a price drop, and why publishers are slashing the price of games ever more quickly. Honestly, it's a mug's game to buy anything on release now as within the month it will be 25% cheaper or more.