- Joined
- October 18, 2006
- Messages
- 3,508
Yesterday I bought Total War:Medieval 2 for €3.49. Not that I have time to play it, but I loved the first one, and it cost less than a magazine at the Kiosk. The Witcher 2 is currently available for €4.99. If it weren't for Kickstarter, I think the only games I would have bought at full price in the last 3 years would have been the Witcher 2 and Skyrim.
I am really starting to wonder if the constant sales aren't beginnning to devalue games and ultimately leading to a downward spiral that will hurt game development.
I used to buy few games, but if I did, it was because I really wanted them. Now, within just a few years I have a amassed a huge collection on Steam and GOG, and have maybe played a quarter of them for any length of time. That means: if there were no new games anymore from now on, never, I would probably still be good until my retirement. And it seems the sales are coming thicker and faster all the time. Our own Pricewatch thread used to be a really useful thing announcing the occasional sale - now it's a constant stream of sale news. You all know the drill - There is Steams Midweek madness, and when that ends the weekend deal, and of course the summer sale and the christmas sale, GOG has weekly and seasonal sales as well of course, and so do all the other distributors I'm sure, not to be outdone. And then we have the humble and other bundles that throw a whole heap of games out for a pittance.
I don't know, it's nice for my wallet and my inner collector, but I see what the $1 mentally does to the iOS appstore and the qualtiy of the games there, and I really start to be afraid that people become so used to these sale prices that fewer and fewer will buy games at full price. And that at the sales they buy more indiscriminately, randomly, not really supporting the best, but whatever is so cheap and shiny enough that it triggers your buying impules (I know I am guilty of that).
And if that happens what can developers do but turn to F2P schemes, ads and other horrors?
Thoughts?
I am really starting to wonder if the constant sales aren't beginnning to devalue games and ultimately leading to a downward spiral that will hurt game development.
I used to buy few games, but if I did, it was because I really wanted them. Now, within just a few years I have a amassed a huge collection on Steam and GOG, and have maybe played a quarter of them for any length of time. That means: if there were no new games anymore from now on, never, I would probably still be good until my retirement. And it seems the sales are coming thicker and faster all the time. Our own Pricewatch thread used to be a really useful thing announcing the occasional sale - now it's a constant stream of sale news. You all know the drill - There is Steams Midweek madness, and when that ends the weekend deal, and of course the summer sale and the christmas sale, GOG has weekly and seasonal sales as well of course, and so do all the other distributors I'm sure, not to be outdone. And then we have the humble and other bundles that throw a whole heap of games out for a pittance.
I don't know, it's nice for my wallet and my inner collector, but I see what the $1 mentally does to the iOS appstore and the qualtiy of the games there, and I really start to be afraid that people become so used to these sale prices that fewer and fewer will buy games at full price. And that at the sales they buy more indiscriminately, randomly, not really supporting the best, but whatever is so cheap and shiny enough that it triggers your buying impules (I know I am guilty of that).
And if that happens what can developers do but turn to F2P schemes, ads and other horrors?
Thoughts?
- Joined
- Oct 18, 2006
- Messages
- 3,508