Back to the Future pricing
Telltale is really pissing me off. I need to get this off my chest.
When Back to the Future was available for preorder in december of last year, I thought about getting it, but in the end I decided to wait for the Steam/PSN version. The price of 20 dollars (15 euros) was definitely worth it for me, but I'd rather keep my games in one place.
The Steam version then launched for a fair price of 25 dollars. The European version was slightly more expensive, but with other companies ripping us of when they get the chance, 19 euros wasn't bad at all.
By the time the second episode came out, the first episode finally launched on PSN. They kind of made it up by lowering the price to 20 dollars though. I patiently waited for the European release. I reasoned that, because Telltale has always been fair when it comes to exchange rates, I might as well wait for that.
Today, more than two months after the PC release of episode 1 and 3 weeks after the US PSN release of episode 1, Back to the Future finally launched on the European PSN. For a price of 20 euros. In other words, they simply replaced the dollar sign with the euro sign and made European PS3 owners pay more than anyone else.
Unwilling to pay this high price, I booted up my PC to get the Steam version. Unfortunately, as we can see on steamgamessales.com, the price of the Steam version was increased to 25 euros!
I'd really like an explanation for this, because I just don't get it. It feels like Telltale is deliberately teasing me. There are people who preordered this game for 15 dollars and got it on day one. I patiently waited for over two months and I was willing to accept late PSN releases for all other episodes, yet I have to pay 27 dollars - almost twice the amount other people paid!
Who else is frustrated by this?
When Back to the Future was available for preorder in december of last year, I thought about getting it, but in the end I decided to wait for the Steam/PSN version. The price of 20 dollars (15 euros) was definitely worth it for me, but I'd rather keep my games in one place.
The Steam version then launched for a fair price of 25 dollars. The European version was slightly more expensive, but with other companies ripping us of when they get the chance, 19 euros wasn't bad at all.
By the time the second episode came out, the first episode finally launched on PSN. They kind of made it up by lowering the price to 20 dollars though. I patiently waited for the European release. I reasoned that, because Telltale has always been fair when it comes to exchange rates, I might as well wait for that.
Today, more than two months after the PC release of episode 1 and 3 weeks after the US PSN release of episode 1, Back to the Future finally launched on the European PSN. For a price of 20 euros. In other words, they simply replaced the dollar sign with the euro sign and made European PS3 owners pay more than anyone else.
Unwilling to pay this high price, I booted up my PC to get the Steam version. Unfortunately, as we can see on steamgamessales.com, the price of the Steam version was increased to 25 euros!
I'd really like an explanation for this, because I just don't get it. It feels like Telltale is deliberately teasing me. There are people who preordered this game for 15 dollars and got it on day one. I patiently waited for over two months and I was willing to accept late PSN releases for all other episodes, yet I have to pay 27 dollars - almost twice the amount other people paid!
Who else is frustrated by this?
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Edit: Sorry, I didn't read the whole post. You already knew that. But at this point buying the game directly from Telltale is still your cheapest option.
You have to remember people want their cut so prices go up.
PS3 price: has to cover telltale costs to make the game + the costs in converting said game to ps 3 format + the cost of submitting it to the ps 3 store etc.
It's like the difference between buying wholesale and buying in a normal shop.
Shop price is higher because the shop owner wants their cut.
Plus with europe side of things you have to factor in taxation; I'm fairly sure digital products like on the ps store etc now are subject to some kind of taxation (same way as when u have stuff shipped from us price is higher as they have to add on uk import taxes or w/e)
Also, I'm not sure why you think the price increase on Steam makes sense. This was not advertised as some kind of discount. They did have a discount, so you could buy the game for 17 instead of 19 euros. Then the discount ended, and the game was 19 euros. For some reason, Telltale recently increased the price to 25 euros. Even if you take the whole story about porting costs, taxes, retailers etc. in consideration (which, in my opinion, you should not), this makes no sense. When you release a game, it gets cheaper over time. Granted, there is an exception to this rule (namely preorder discounts), but in general a game's price won't be increased unannounced.
I guess that worst part is that Telltale acted like the exact opposite was happening. Basically they told PS3 users that they were sorry for the delay and that they wanted to make it up by offering the PS3 version for a lower price. What they did was increase the price on Steam and then offer the PSN version for more than the Steam version initially cost. I don't see how Steam has got anything to do with it. When you're selling a game on Steam, Valve takes a part and Europe takes a part with taxes. As a developer, you have decision to make: do I increase the price in Europe, letting roughly half of my customers pay a lot more, or do I cover these costs? Although Steam seems to advise a higher price for the European market, in the end the developer decides. In this case, Telltale did decide: they made the European version only slightly more expensive. Then they increased the price.
I assume the same holds for PSN. Telltale released The Devil's Playhouse for a fair price. They chose not to do the same with Back to the Future.
Telltale games are all made in the telltale tool for the pc formatt to begin with then are ported out to otherplatforms
It's different with Steam, as Giant Tope noted. They make their own prices, and that's where anger is supposed to be directed if you feel that their pricing policy is too unreliable. Same goes for PSN.
The compatibility of the engine they're using has something to do with it. They can make multiplatform games using the engine but the engine was designed to make PC games. Even if they port the game from PS3 to PC, it works more efficiently in PC.
However it seems like you had the opportunity to jump on a couple different editions of this game at lower/preorder prices. You gambled and lost, essentially. I paid 25 dollars for this season on Steam in December, and could really care less that some people got it for 5 dollars less. Just my 2 cents.
An oft-quoted quote, but one that seems relevant:
When I have to download a seperate installer for every game I want to play, I will play them less and thus enjoy them less. For some people this might seem ridiculous, but if you switch computers a lot and play a lot of different games, it makes sense.
But even if it does make sense, if we go with the logic of your presumption, then you have to deal with the costs of obtaining that "console-like" atmosphere. You only get the games that Steam sells. You only get the games at the price Steam deems fair, which is often ludicrous in non-dollar currencies. You cannot order from other stores that may have other benefits, like the DRM-free DVD that came with a purchase of Tales of Monkey Island purchase from this store, or the DVDs offered for any other titles. You don't get pre-order forums or pre-order bonuses that other sites might offer. You go by Steam's release, which may be slightly later than the official website or retailers. Etc etc. If you are going to say it's logical to only buy your [blank] from one store ever, then fine. But that comes with an inherent cost, none of which is this one mid-size gaming company's fault. Sometimes I buy movies from Amazon, sometimes they're cheaper at a local retailer. I don't swear allegiance to either, and if either wished for me to swear allegiance so that my movies would fit in the same box or what have you, I'd be more pissed at the limited nature of their model than anything else.
I accept that buying from Steam will give me disadvantages (like missing out on the forums) because Telltale offers those to the customers of their own store. That's fine, I would never complain about that. As I said earlier, I don't mind paying a bit more for the service I'm getting from Steam and/or PSN. There are two things that I did have problems with. I'm not saying Telltale shouldn't be allowed to make these decisions, it's just that I don't understand them and it frustrates me - and without a doubt others as well:
1. The US version of the PlayStation Store not only got Back to the Future a few weeks earlier, it also got it for a much lower price. Telltale (and other developers as well) has always used the same prices across different platforms and regions. This time, they didn't.
2. After the launch of the PSN version, the price of the Steam version was increased. In order to keep the PSN version cheaper, the price of the Steam version was simply increased.
I hope Telltale realizes and considers that people are frustrated by these marketing tactics. I named this topic "Back to the Future pricing", but it's actually more about being open to fans about their prices. If I had known from the beginning that a PSN release was going to be twice as expensive, the price of the Steam version would be increased and the PSN release would be delayed a few months, I could have made a better decision. To be fair, of course Telltale didn't know that the game would be delayed either, but I think they did know what they were going to charge on different platforms in different countries.
Read my last comment.
I know you didn't mean it but I find this statement slightly offensive. It's a lot contradictory, too: 5 dollars in a 25-dollar game are quite a lot, and if you're after inexpensive games that 5 dollars are going to matter. It's not my case in the least but failing to acknowledge that is a gross blunder.
Maikel, when you think the EU PS3 owner's pay very much more for the PS3 Version, then check out what the Swiss PS3 Store want to charge us: CHF 30.00 (around EUR 23.20 and USD 32.25). From our point of view:
=> USD 20 = CHF 18.60
=> EUR 20 = CHF 25.85
Note: We in Switzerland have a much lower Tax as all Euro-Countries:
- CH: 8%
- EU: between 15%-25%
(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Value_added_tax#EU_countries)
So it could not be the Tax.
I did take into account that will not cost 1:1 the same like in the US-Store, but that Sony will ask for this a very much higher Price, that beat everything I calculated.
Waited so long for the PS3-Version, but when I see this high difference I will now think twice before I buy the Game.
You forgot to mention that salaries in Switzerland are much higher than Europe averages. And you also have much lower taxes, VAT or otherwise. As the game costs €19.90 in Europe, you are talking about a 15% increase, when the cost of life is at least 2X (but very often 4X or more) as are the salaries, so you're basically getting a substantial discount: and you complain?
The matter with Swiss francs is subtly different though. Swiss francs are at an all-time high right now. I visited the country in july of this year, and I remember paying only slightly more than 20 euros for 30 francs. Sony can't cope with these sudden price changes, so they have to charge you a bit more if the franc suddenly gets more expensive, just like they have to charge you less if the franc is worth less.
That doesn't change the fact that you're paying substantially more than US users, which is simply not fair, especially if your taxes are low. The euro has never been worth less than a US dollar, while 2 euros were the same as 3 francs not too long ago.
So I guess their economy is ridiculous? I spend 20€ for a pizza out in Italy while my brother, that lives in Geneva, spends 100€ for the same pizza - no, sorry, it's a much worse one. A three-room house there costs at least 1 million Euros, that's 3 to 4 times the prices we have here. Maybe you should go there and force them to lower their prices, 'cause they are ridiculous?
And BTW, it's not "rich people". It's people that live in an inflated economy, so what is fair for you is negligible for them; and what is high for you is maybe fair, but often low for them. You are not charging double, you are charging what is fair for them - and 3 Euros more isn't even fair, it's ridiculous because it's too low a "surcharge".
That may well be the case, in which they are getting a fabulous deal.
Again, they are not paying more - if anything, they are paying less. And if your taxes are low, at the end of the day, you have more money in your pocket: and you should pay even less because you have more money? Talk about ridiculous.
I'm also not saying Switzerland or the people are ridiculous. I'm saying that your argument is ridiculous. I don't believe it's fair to charge a person more because he has more money or because he pays in another currency.
They certainly are paying more. 30 francs is more than 20 euros right now. The thing is that you find that justifiable because people pay less taxes. In fact, when considering that taxes are low, prices including taxes should be lower as well. This is why people in the US pay less than people in Europe. Even with taxes included, the price should be lower though.