Cheaper Digital Downloads Prices to be Tested

[Vallos]

Staring with Ryse: Son of Rome.


Cheaper Xbox One Digital Prices Tested by Microsoft - IGN

 

[Keith Wallace]

Can I just call bull and leave it at that? Nah, I suppose that's not a real argument.

This isn't testing cheaper digital pricing. This is what businesses call a "sale." They're making the game cheaper for a week. This happens every week for different games at different retailers. For starters, Ryse is only $50 at Best Buy right now. They aren't testing new pricing because people asked for it. They're putting a game on-sale for a week with DLC about to launch, IGN just said it right in the article. They're trying to milk out a few more purchases of the game to try to get a few more DLC purchases later on. I mean, what's the logic that they're "testing cheaper pricing" on a single game, for 6 days, with new content about to launch for that game?

Testing lower pricing would be taking a game that's launching soon (say, Titanfall) and pricing the digital version below the physical one, and for more than 6 days. Testing lower pricing would be a permanent price drop for Ryse, not a 6-day drop to drum up potential DLC purchases. This is a joke, Microsoft's totally full of it.

 

[MobileVortex]

LoL what? they are "testing" to see how many people buy it at that price point. It's new console so "testing" is an acceptable way to word it, sale is another way. It's called marketing. I can never see them dropping the "normal" price on digital content below the current mark. I can see publishers starting to charge more (IE 69.99) for physical media to offset the costs/encourage digital sales.

 

[Keith Wallace]

No, it's not testing of any kind. It's taking a game and putting it on-sale for a week. Go look at the weekly ad for Best Buy, where they have Ryse, Forza 5, and Dead Rising 3 at $50 each (and that's the physical version). Is that "trying a new price point?" No, it's a sale. This is a sale before some DLC releases, and they're calling it something more benevolent-sounding to get people to think good things about Microsoft. When I see them say that digital games are LAUNCHING at a lower price, I'll buy it. Until then, I'll just call it the one-week sale that it is.

 

[Vallos]

Perhaps the "test" is pitting the sale of Ryse via digital download ($39) vs. the sale in physical format ($50).

 

[Keith Wallace]

But that's still not what's happening. The price is $40 for a week, then it'll go up to $60 again. In the same manner, the physical copy at Best Buy is $50 for a week, then it'll go back to $60 next week. The online sale is just a better one this week, that's it. Now, if they followed this with a "if sales go well this week, we'll leave it at $40 permanently," it might be different (though I'd still argue that they're lying to get more sales). It's a sale, nothing more. I'd love the opportunity to be wrong here, but given that this is ultimately a business, I don't buy it.

 

[MobileVortex]

I see no difference, you do. To each his own i guess. I'm just glad to see a AAA title go on sale digitally. Hopefully i can pick up one of the lego games for cheap.

 

[DavidinCT]

Digital games should always be cheaper, even if it's $5 but, these release titles will be bargin bin titles in 6-8 months. This should be something they do always (match retail pricing) but, Pricing varies state and city, so a 1 month old game in CA it could be $39.99 but, in Boston it could be $54.99. Not sure how they are going to do this. I just have a feeling it will always be cheaper for Retail discs but, this will depend on where you live.

When Dead Risiing 3 hits for $29.99, I will be all over it. It looks good but, I didn't care for 1 or 2 too much after playing for a hour or so....Unless someone has one for sale ?

Of course Ryse goes on sale first, this is the only title I picked up for full retail digtal copy with out reading any reviews...just because I wanted more than Ghosts or Forza to play....

 

[Rhody#WP]

The challenge with pricing digital copies is they are competing with not only new physical disks but also used disks. A $20 discount is pretty steep for a recent game, but it might prevent many people from buying a used copy. That could save them quite a bit in lost sales. In that sense, this sale could very well be a test to determine whether pricing digital downloads to undercut the used copy price results in increased revenue.

 

[SnailUK]

I don't get how this is a trial.

This game is months old, so inevitably, interest is reducing, so the price should be dropping.

Microsoft need to do the trial with a brand new AAA game, and give us a good price on release day, something that is at least competitive with Amazon. Even with the reduction Amazon is cheaper, at least in the UK.

Microsoft need to realise their competition isn't PS4, its Steam. Give it a couple of months, Steam will start getting the Steam Machines properly out there, then i'll be able to buy a Steam Machine for a similar price to a One/PS4, it'll have similar performance, and far cheaper digital games.

If Microsoft got the prices right, i'd never buy a physical game again, but they need to start cheap, and reduce at a similar rate to retail games. Steam shows people go mental for good value.

The real kicker, would be if Microsoft could work with ISPs, to make game downloads not count as part of people's internet download quota, so even people with limited broadband accounts could download 50GB+ games, without worrying.

 

[Rhody#WP]

I don't get how this is a trial.

This game is months old, so inevitably, interest is reducing, so the price should be dropping.

Microsoft need to do the trial with a brand new AAA game, and give us a good price on release day, something that is at least competitive with Amazon. Even with the reduction Amazon is cheaper, at least in the UK.

Microsoft need to realise their competition isn't PS4, its Steam. Give it a couple of months, Steam will start getting the Steam Machines properly out there, then i'll be able to buy a Steam Machine for a similar price to a One/PS4, it'll have similar performance, and far cheaper digital games.

If Microsoft got the prices right, i'd never buy a physical game again, but they need to start cheap, and reduce at a similar rate to retail games. Steam shows people go mental for good value.

The real kicker, would be if Microsoft could work with ISPs, to make game downloads not count as part of people's internet download quota, so even people with limited broadband accounts could download 50GB+ games, without worrying.

This is a lot of apples, oranges, and wishful thinking. It's like saying Tesla "needs to" realize it competes with Nissan and price the Model S under $30k. Just because you want brand new, high production games really cheap doesn't mean Microsoft "needs to" give it to you.

 

[Keith Wallace]

Steam Machines are basically a failure for the average consumer. They're not much cheaper than a regular PC, with the price difference basically being the cost of a Windows license. They might even be less-versatile with their skinned Linux than the Xbox One OS, which has apps published and decent multitasking. Those who want a Steam Machine are likely PC gamers who want a secondary, cheap PC for the living room. The average consumer will know nothing about them, and those customers who buy them without knowing what they are will likely be confused and/or disappointed, in my opinion.

The competition is definitely the PS4, and they really need to bring down the price to match it. The problem is, by the time they do, it won't matter. They'll have loads of bad press (already do, in fact), and they'll still be trying to sell lesser hardware for the same price. Odds are, if they drop the price to $400, they'll remove the Kinect for that SKU, and it means that they won't even have that hardware advantage for potential buyers. But that's all just my personal opinion/analysis, based on Microsoft's general inability to launch the Xbox One in an intelligent manner.

 

[SnailUK]

This is a lot of apples, oranges, and wishful thinking. It's like saying Tesla "needs to" realize it competes with Nissan and price the Model S under $30k. Just because you want brand new, high production games really cheap doesn't mean Microsoft "needs to" give it to you.

???

If Amazon can sell, and mail a game to me significantly cheaper than Microsoft, then there is still more room for savings, so why can't Microsoft/publishers at least match this?

Add to that, a digital sale won't find its way onto the second hand market, so they should be able to reduce the price a touch more.

The side effect of digital sales, is that it may end up killing traditional game stores, but that is inevitable with supermarkets and amazon trumping them on price.

From recollection, aren't Amazon opening a digital game store for PS4? If Microsoft won't reduce their margins, then just allow Amazon to make a game store available on the Xbox One, so i can buy the same content cheaper, still on my console.

 

[Moiz Mian]

This is a lot of apples, oranges, and wishful thinking. It's like saying Tesla "needs to" realize it competes with Nissan and price the Model S under $30k. Just because you want brand new, high production games really cheap doesn't mean Microsoft "needs to" give it to you.

I disagree, the whole point of digital is that you don't have to deal with physical copies, packaging, shipping, etc... It should at the very least match the cost of hard copies. When you see hard copies of games going for $48.99 on Amazon, the digital copy should at least be this price or cheaper. Since the game can not be sold afterwards, that amounts to additional revenue from the game. The publisher loses sales when I sell my hard copy for $20-$30. They could make a lot more money out of cheaper online sales. I bet if they sold games at $44.99 digital only, they would make more long term money than selling a hard copy for $59.99

 

[Rhody#WP]

I disagree, the whole point of digital is that you don't have to deal with physical copies, packaging, shipping, etc... It should at the very least match the cost of hard copies. When you see hard copies of games going for $48.99 on Amazon, the digital copy should at least be this price or cheaper. Since the game can not be sold afterwards, that amounts to additional revenue from the game. The publisher loses sales when I sell my hard copy for $20-$30. They could make a lot more money out of cheaper online sales. I bet if they sold games at $44.99 digital only, they would make more long term money than selling a hard copy for $59.99

You're not disagreeing with me. I didn't say it was unreasonable to compare digital downloads to physical copies. I said it was unreasonable to compare brand new, high production console games to what's available on Steam.