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I guess we can throw the exchange rate out of the window as for whatever reason, console games have gone up in price this generation in the UK despite prices remaining the same over in the US and if you thought digital was going to be a big thing this gen, think again as EA's prices are through the roof.
Last week the UK PSN prices were revealed ahead of the PS4 launch in the UK. Prices mostly remained the same if not a tad cheaper than the games physical counterparts but EA had other ideas in mind. EA burst out of the gate with a £62.99 asking price for digital copies of its games on the Playstation Network and once it was revealed that the same games were £8 cheaper on the Xbox One, the publisher was quick to reduce its hefty price tag. EA is now charging £59.99 for its digital games but unfortunately, this is still £5 more than on the Xbox One. Weren't digital copies supposed to cut manufacturing costs and allow games to be sold a bit cheaper? It seems that way on PC but the consoles seem to be immune to this. Here is a little price comparison for Battlefield 4:
- Xbox One digital – £54.99
- PS4 digital- £59.99
- Physical copies for both platforms – £47.00
Downloading Battlefield 4 on the PS4 is £13 more expensive than buying the physical copy from Amazon and the worst part is, there is absolutely no excuse for it. You could buy a Battlefield 4 code for the PC for £34.99 through Amazon the day it was released and even without taking the PC copy's price in to account- the digital copy is still cheaper on the Xbox One.
Now lets tackle our next problem- the exchange rate. In the US, games cost $60 new, which works out as £37 over here and with VAT added it comes to £44.47. Amazon has got that down, having already reduced its next gen titles from £54.99 to the reasonable sum of £47.00, which isn't far off the exchange rate. unfortunately though, it seems someone over at EA didn't think to take this into account when pricing the games up so we're going to do it for them. £59.99 is the equivalent of $97.09, now let that sink in for a minute- UK gamers are being charged almost $100 for one game, even when the manufacturing costs have been cut out. That is outstandingly expensive and if other publishers follow EA in this price hike, console gaming is going to get really expensive, really fast.
Kitguru Says: EA simply cannot get away with charging its UK customers the equivalent of nearly $100 for one game, that's ridiculous pricing. Hopefully this will get nipped in the bud fast. We've had reasonable digital prices on the PC for years now, which is why Steam has done so well. There's no reason to make console games cost so much more. What do you guys think of EA's price hike? It's pretty shocking when you look at the US equivalent.
Source: TechRadar
unfortunately this is the norm in the uk, we are overpriced on everything and M$/Sony/Nintendo wonder why us gamers go for imported consoles games etc, when there are places like game selling new titles for £49.99 and the local supermarket can beat that by £10 sometimes it shows the state of uk gaming.
Actually most games are cheaper for the physical copy on PC also as I never buy digital downloads (I prefer to stick it to them by buying the physical copy then entering the code and letting it download)
I still can’t grasp the concept of the digital copy even being the same price as the retail, with no disc to press, cover to print and case to supply (also cutting out the 3rd party suppliers takings (aka amazon, game ect) digital should without a doubt be cheaper period.
Ultimately who do you blame?
The end users of course.
If they didn’t pay the excessive price, they wouldn’t be able to charge it.
So long as they don’t up PC digital download prices I personally could care less what they do for console fans. Console gaming as a whole seems more expensive than what its worth. Still don’t particularly see anything ‘next gen’ about the new consoles after being boast not only by Microsoft but also Sony that they will beat a PC hands down in the gaming market this generation. They hadn’t beat PC gaming before they were released and they certainly won’t do it now.
I’ll stick with my reliable more fun, better community PC gaming .. Now if only I could talk my brother into it:)
Is aus new AAA games cost anywhere between 100 and 120 AUD(91 to 110 usd) Basically because the exchange rate used to be a point where this was reasonable. Using steam the prices are better for the most part some companies still charging 80+ price tags, to make matter more annoying the prices are all in USD and we are even charged an international transaction fee on top of it.
Hmmm…can’t say I’m surprised that a mainstream game retailer is trying to fleece it’s consumers, least of all EA. What is surprising is that they seem to think it is acceptable to charge a lot more for a digital copy over a physical copy. This is a clear example of a manufacturer deciding that consumers will pay anything for their product and deciding to, in effect, resort to extortion. I never had a particularly good view of EA anyway but this just shows them in their true light.
I have to say I would like some of what their pricing people are smoking….clearly, it has some very strong mind-altering effects. Digital copies was supposed to reduce the price of a product (movies being a perfect example) due to lack of overheads, not increase it. The UK always pays more than the US for anything and that is fine but legal extortion is not. Let’s hope EA notice that a lot of people aren’t as stupid as they clearly think and review their prices
PC: Battlefield 4 £15.90 Battlefield 4 Premium £25.90
So why would I want next gen consoles again?