Digital Downloads vs. Retail

[JPS35]

Inspired by another thread, I have been thinking about this recently. If the purchase price of a game used to factor in programming, development, physical reproduction, packaging, shipping, distribution, and a variety of other "physical tasks" to "get it to the store", and Digital Downloads bypass a great deal of this process, then forgetting about inflation, price adjustment, or what have you, why has the cost not been lowered for games? If it used to cost $49.99 or thereabouts to make the game and get it to the stores, why would it not be less expensive to release it on Digital Download?

 

[Ben90]

Because its more convenient. I'm sure as hell not going to drive to the store to buy a game. Also bandwidth isn't that cheap.

 

[Red Storm]

Why are many new PC games releasing at $60 compared to the usual $50 we've seen for so long?

Money.

 

[zerocool84]

Why are many new PC games releasing at $60 compared to the usual $50 we've seen for so long?

Money.

Many??? Only the Call of Duty's and Starcraft have been $60.

 

[Arkaign]

Why are many new PC games releasing at $60 compared to the usual $50 we've seen for so long?

Money.

I think that's the bottom line

I can't entirely blame them for the price hike, after all : wages rise, costs rise, and games are becoming larger and larger productions requiring more labor and effort. Back in the day you didn't have teams doing lots of rendered video, separate teams to work on online components, and quite rarely did they have to hire orchestras and pay artists to use music. On average most things get more expensive over time, so it's normal.

My only concern is really that all of the big production values do not really have much to do with the 'fun' factor. I can name dozens of games with a great look, great visuals and sounds, that just aren't that much fun to play. And these were titles that probably involved many dozens if not hundreds of individuals to develop. Add to this that such huge budgets are put forward by business interests with a clear intent on getting paid as soon as possible, and you get a lot of 'rushed' buggy products.

Back in the day, I bet a lot of the classics (Doom, Civ 1, Prince of Persia, Tetris, etc) probably were done by less than 10 people total.

According to an inflation calculator based on the consumer price index, a $50 product in 2000 would cost ~$62 in 2009.

 

[JujuFish]

Many??? Only the Call of Duty's and Starcraft have been $60.

I blame Kotick. That man needs a kick to the balls.

 

[paperfist]

I blame Kotick. That man needs a kick to the balls.

Hah! He thinks he's doing us a favor: http://www.joystiq.com/2010/11/12/bobby-kotick-on-the-business-of-call-of-duty-dlc-treyarch-inf/

Back to topic, I wonder how much Steam charges to distribute a developers title? I mean it's like having two middle men involved and that's got to add to the price.

 

[El Guaraguao]

best spider man based game will still go to maximum carnage, in my book.

 

[zagood]

best spider man based game will still go to maximum carnage, in my book.

Good to know.

 

[cixx79]

I find it convenient to DL the game digitally rather than stand in line waiting for the store to open like a black friday event.

 

[Rebel44]

Back to topic, I wonder how much Steam charges to distribute a developers title? I mean it's like having two middle men involved and that's got to add to the price.

Valve (Steam) currently takes 30% of final price - 70% goes to publisher/developer. This is much better than retail - when retail copies are sold only about 20-30% goes to publisher/developer.

 

[WildW]

The destinction will not be worth worrying about for long. Here in the UK at least, retail stores have almost completely stopped selling PC games. The last video game chain has got rid of PC titles in some stores and has a token showing in a corner at the back in the rest. Steam and the like are almost the only option now.

Strange thing is, I'm not as upset by it as I thought I would be. You end up being able to buy almost anything you want for <= $10 if you wait for the inevitable sale. Yes there are the other issues associated with download services, but I can't complain on price. Games feel cheaper than they've ever been, so long as you don't want them as soon as they're released.

 

[Martimus]

It was always because the retail stores wouldn't put the games on the shelves if the customer could just get it online for cheaper. They couldn't be guaranteed that their shelf space would actually lead to a sale, so digital distribution had to be at least the same price. As retail sales become less and less of a viable option, then we might start seeing lower pricing on digital distribution.

 

[pontifex]

Many??? Only the Call of Duty's and Starcraft have been $60.

we've already gone through this. it is NOT only CoD and Starcraft.

MoH, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Settlers 7, HAWX 2, and a few more.

 

[mmntech]

we've already gone through this. it is NOT only CoD and Starcraft.

MoH, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Settlers 7, HAWX 2, and a few more.

All those are Ubisoft games. They don't know jack s--- about marketing games for the PC.

CoD and Starcraft are blockbuster titles. Relatively inelastic in economic terms, meaning people will still buy them in large numbers despite a higher price.

 

[SMOGZINN]

a quick search on Amazon shows the following games at the price between $59 and $61:

Crysis 2
Starcraft II
Guild Wars 2 (pre-order)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier (pre-order)
Bullet Storm (pre-order)
Barbie Horse Adventures: Mystery Ride
Civilization v
Highlander (pre-order)

So it is obviously more then just a few blockbuster titles.

 

[pontifex]

All those are Ubisoft games. They don't know jack s--- about marketing games for the PC.

CoD and Starcraft are blockbuster titles. Relatively inelastic in economic terms, meaning people will still buy them in large numbers despite a higher price.

I could have sworn MoH and Splinter Cell were blockbuster titles?

MoH is EA, btw

 

[pontifex]

a quick search on Amazon shows the following games at the price between $59 and $61:

Crysis 2
Starcraft II
Guild Wars 2 (pre-order)
Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Future Soldier (pre-order)
Bullet Storm (pre-order)
Barbie Horse Adventures: Mystery Ride
Civilization v
Highlander (pre-order)

So it is obviously more then just a few blockbuster titles.

Bethesda's pre-order for Rage (i think thats what its called) is 59.99 at gamestop.

 

[paperfist]

Valve (Steam) currently takes 30% of final price - 70% goes to publisher/developer. This is much better than retail - when retail copies are sold only about 20-30% goes to publisher/developer.

Wow 30% seems like a lot, but those retail number seem out of whack. If 30% of retail sales goes to publisher where does the other 70% go? You have production, packaging, advertising, shipping and I assume payment to the store you want your box sold in...

If those numbers are true and it's the same on consoles plus the fees paid to the console manufacturer I'm dumbfounded as to why any dev would want to support consoles over PCs.

 

[AznAnarchy99]

Convenience. Only time I might buy from store is if they have some sort of discount. Same way I got SC2 and Cata for $80

 

[Rebel44]

Wow 30% seems like a lot, but those retail number seem out of whack. If 30% of retail sales goes to publisher where does the other 70% go? You have production, packaging, advertising, shipping and I assume payment to the store you want your box sold in...

If those numbers are true and it's the same on consoles plus the fees paid to the console manufacturer I'm dumbfounded as to why any dev would want to support consoles over PCs.

I have those numbers from 2 developers - people I spoke with are looking forward to death of retail selling PC games.

 

[Rifter]

Wow 30% seems like a lot, but those retail number seem out of whack. If 30% of retail sales goes to publisher where does the other 70% go? You have production, packaging, advertising, shipping and I assume payment to the store you want your box sold in...

If those numbers are true and it's the same on consoles plus the fees paid to the console manufacturer I'm dumbfounded as to why any dev would want to support consoles over PCs.

Its not hard to figure out dude, think about it. Console games outsell PC games by a VERY LARGE margin. What would you rather make, 70% of 100,000 copies sold or 30% of 1,000,000 copies sold.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

market has shown people will pay at those price points, everything else is irrelevant

 

[zebano]

market has shown people will pay at those price points, everything else is irrelevant

It depends on the quantity of people that will pay at that price point actually...