The Witcher 2 - New Trailers

Oh well, I got stupid and pre-ordered the premium edition

~35$ is pretty cheap….
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$35??? where did you get such a price? and why are they selling it so cheap isn't it a new game?
 
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Well, it costs 45 euro on GOG however you get to buy games for the difference between euros and dollars.
 
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DArtagnan said:
If you switch region to US - you can buy it for 45 dollars. That's what I've been told, anyway.
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The UK price converts to $45 dollars - I was browsing the UK version but had prices in dollars for some reason (along with the GBP).
 
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DArtagnan said:
If you switch region to US - you can buy it for 45 dollars. That's what I've been told, anyway.
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And that is what I will do.

I live in Europe, and when I access the Witcher 2 gamecard it says: €45, and below that in small print: we will bill you $60 (which is converted from that €45, obviously).
Now, when I switch my location to the US, it just says $45. What kind of bullshit is that, anyway? Why does this game cost less in the US? Am I missing something here?
 
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Perhaps they have taken over Steam's policy to charge more from Europeans ?
 
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£24.99 with shipping included from Play is the best price i've found so far. "Premium edition" that comes with some extra armor or whatever it was..

Edit: Bought mine from Game.co.uk, they have a downloadable version for same price, download speed is ok, takes about 50 minutes (100mbit).
 
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wiretripped said:
And that is what I will do.

I live in Europe, and when I access the Witcher 2 gamecard it says: €45, and below that in small print: we will bill you $60 (which is converted from that €45, obviously).
Now, when I switch my location to the US, it just says $45. What kind of bullshit is that, anyway? Why does this game cost less in the US? Am I missing something here?
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Nothing new. Happens all the time. Little to do with taxation policies but with the primary importance of the US market for game developpers. In other words, developpers subsidize a lower price on the US market by pricing more in Europe. A commercial strategy.
 
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I just went out and bought my copy today... and now I hate CDProject and all of you for hyping me, because I didn't intend to buy it for another couple of weeks or so and I just started playing the first game again only a few days ago with the intention of finishing it once more before I move to the sequel and now I'm still in chapter 3 and I'm kicking myself.

Premium Edition looks nice - I hope the 'making of' is worth watching... I'm always after such things.
 
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ChienAboyeur said:
Nothing new. Happens all the time. Little to do with taxation policies but with the primary importance of the US market for game developpers. In other words, developpers subsidize a lower price on the US market by pricing more in Europe. A commercial strategy.
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Yes, that's happening all of the time. Prime example : Adobe.
 
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ChienAboyeur said:
Nothing new. Happens all the time. Little to do with taxation policies but with the primary importance of the US market for game developpers. In other words, developpers subsidize a lower price on the US market by pricing more in Europe. A commercial strategy.
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And eastern europe and Asia are even more important than the US market?

It's nothing to do with importance, just simple market economies. Different regions pay different prices for different goods. If you charged the same price worldwide then whole regions wouldn't be able to afford your game, resulting in you raising the price again anyway.

You set the price according to what the market bears for your strategy.
 
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Maybe. But have you ever heard of something called "cross-subsidisation" ?
 
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Alrik Fassbauer said:
Maybe. But have you ever heard of something called "cross-subsidisation" ?
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Absolutely, and I don't doubt that that's what enables them to set market bearing prices and sell games in these other economies when it wouldn't be viable to do so otherwise. But it's driven by wanting to set market bearing prices, not to favour different regions over others.

At the end of the day, I paid £24.49 for The Witcher 2 premium (pre-ordered), and to me that represents very good value for money. PC game prices in the UK are undergoing a correction, having been very low for a very long time. £28-35 is now the normal price of a new AAA game. Games wouldn't sell for that much in some parts of Asia, so they are much cheaper there. Unfortunately there is now a business in buying games in Asia, opening the box and selling the key code to someone in the UK. Even if it were legal to download your own ISO of the game install disc (which is isn't in the UK), this practise does threaten the subsidisation and market forces model - if sales eat into local sales, then asian prices would have to rise to compensate, leading to a lack of affordability for the local asian market, and the western consumer being no better off than the first place.
 
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kalniel said:
And eastern europe and Asia are even more important than the US market?

It's nothing to do with importance, just simple market economies. Different regions pay different prices for different goods. If you charged the same price worldwide then whole regions wouldn't be able to afford your game, resulting in you raising the price again anyway.

You set the price according to what the market bears for your strategy.
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How is this strategy is determined if not by assessing the importance of each market?

Are you telling that the US market could not afford paying a similar price in USD as European customers pay in Euros?

My comment did not address the whole world but only two regions in the world, Europe (eurozone more exactly as the first comment dealt about prices in euro) and the US.

And raising the price on whom?
 
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ChienAboyeur said:
How is this strategy is determined if not by assessing the importance of each market?
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Market importance is relevant to strategy, but unit price alone has no direct bearing on it or resulting from it.

Are you telling that the US market could not afford paying a similar price in USD as European customers pay in Euros?
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The market would not bear it, no. Sales would be lost to a competitors product that was offered at a market bearing price. Affordability is one aspect of market tolerance, but it's not the be all and end all. See petrol/gas prices.

And raising the price on whom?
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For everyone, from the lowest worldwide price.

Regarding Eurozone vs US PC markets, I'd even hazard an estimate that the EU market is more 'important' by size and revenue than the US, especially for RPGs
 
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Regardless of motivation, it's clearcut stupidity to consistently charge 40-50% more as a DD - than what LOCAL shops are charging for the PHYSICAL product.

It needs to change, and they need to tone down their greed a bit.
 
DArtagnan said:
Regardless of motivation, it's clearcut stupidity to consistently charge 40-50% more as a DD - than what LOCAL shops are charging for the PHYSICAL product.

It needs to change, and they need to tone down their greed a bit.
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Assuming it's greed, yes. Or more likely it's an agreement with retailers that encourages them to stock the product and sell it in their shops despite the product being offered as DD. (In fact, GOG explained this when offering their credit scheme).

Games still sell as a result of footfall and shelf visibility (or website visibility from the likes of Amazon), and the retail shops leverage that to get themselves competitive deals from publishers.
 
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kalniel said:
Assuming it's greed, yes. Or it could be an agreement with local retailers that encourages them to stock the product and sell it in their shops despite the product being offered as DD.

Games still sell as a result of footfall and shelf visibility (or website visibility from the likes of Amazon), and the retail shops leverage that to get themselves competitive deals from publishers.
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Every single decision they make is based on maximising profit, either short-term or long-term. So, it's ALWAYS greed. But there's "smart greed" and "stupid greed".

However, in this case - greed is overtaking common sense, which is why they'll HAVE to change this. By charging so much for digital versions - they're actually working against their own interest - because they don't want local shops/retailers to hold this power, as it limits their influence.

Unfortunately, I fear the entire "local shop" thing is going to go away - and they'll be able to set the price globally.

So, it's most likely going to change - but not by them lowering their price. Instead, they'll stop producing physical versions altogether.
 
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