3 ms·

That same game will be $30 in a year, $20 on sale shortly after that, and eventually you can probably find a sale for $10 while the game is still somewhat fresh

That same game will be $30 in a year, $20 on sale shortly after that, and eventually you can probably find a sale for $10 while the game is still somewhat fresh. Why not schedule regional releases to coincide with the changing price floor in privileged markets?

scarejunba 7y ago
Because no one wants to wait, so they’ll just pirate it. This isn’t judgmental. It’s just fact. That’s how consumers behave. If you don’t make something instantly available, people will pirate. Pricing is a mechanism you have to affect that given that you can’t sell at the lower price everywhere and the higher price will lock out people in certain places.
- yellowapple 7y ago
  Piracy ain't forever, though; eventually folks (myself included) might end up buying the game for various reasons (chief among them being the relative bugginess of pirated versions, incompatibility with mods, inability to use online features, or sometimes even just feeling guilty).
simonh 7y ago
Because you'll get a lot more sales in developing countries at $10 when the game has the latest tech, is freshly released, has load of buzz and is being heavily marketed, than you would 5 years later for the same price. Plus in 5 years the company might not have the same sales and marketing teams, management or even owners.
- cgriswald 7y ago
  I think your time table is questionable. Within a year, a $60 game will generally be $30, and $20 or less a year after that. I don't think you have to get total price parity for a regional release. Fewer people in the privileged markets are going to bother seeking out the game in another region to save $5 or $10 than they are to save $40 or $50. I'm struggling imagining who can afford the equipment to run 'the latest tech' but will not be able to afford a game that uses it. I strongly suspect 'the latest tech' is important mostly to the privileged markets. You might be right about the marketing. A hit game will probably be just as profitable later; maintaining or growing its own hype. The bigger problem I think is for games that are flops. Companies probably want to sell as many copies as possible before word gets out; and greatly staggering releases will result in a lot fewer copies being sold as you suggest.
  - SimonPStevens 7y ago
    Latest tech is far less important for games these days. I have a laptop that is 4 years old currently (admittedly it was pretty top end when I brought it) and it still runs latest games perfectly fine, and I'm still not really seeing any need to replace it. Last year's Farcry 5 ran at close to max settings. Tech just doesn't make the gains it used to any more. Back in the 90's a 4 year old machine would be lucky to even start a new released game, let alone run it at close to max settings.
ygjb 7y ago
Because anything that impacts availability will result in piracy. If users can't or won't be able to afford it, they will pirate it. This cna be tempered with pricing strategies. If it can't be purchased, people will pirate it (e.g. region locked games, even w/o localizations, or delayed releases by market) - pricing doesn't matter here - if users can't get it, they will just pirate it, sometimes especially because they know it's going to be released later, and that decision by the studio has made them feel second class. If it's no longer available (abandonware, game developers that have gone out of business, etc) then people will pirate it. There are lots of platforms that are thriving on nostalgia right now because people want to pay for supported, working stuff. (For example, the resurgence of the Baldur's Gate and related games updates) Take a look at any $streaming_service threads and you will see that anything that interferes with streaming service catalogs or pricing will yield shouts of "Arr" and people clearly stating they will pirate shows or use gray market streaming sites. It's anecdotal but I suspect that most folks on this site are more comfortable with pirating movies or music, but often draw the line at video games because it is easier to relate to the development work done to make video games (even though modern blockbusters movies often have a lot of software development associated with them as well).
Fnoord 7y ago
For single player games that works. Artwork gets out of date, but hardly a dealbreaker (perhaps in VR?). However multiplayer games might become less popular over the course of 2 or 3 years. To the point where they're less fun.
cameronbrown 7y ago
Revenue over time is basically a log graph. Some games are practically worthless a year after release (see: yearly AAA junk) Indie markets work well with that model though. I've seen many indie games launch English-only and adding translations later on to sell to more users.

scarejunba 7y ago

Because no one wants to wait, so they’ll just pirate it. This isn’t judgmental. It’s just fact. That’s how consumers behave. If you don’t make something instantly available, people will pirate. Pricing is a mechanism you have to affect that given that you can’t sell at the lower price everywhere and the higher price will lock out people in certain places.

yellowapple 7y ago
Piracy ain't forever, though; eventually folks (myself included) might end up buying the game for various reasons (chief among them being the relative bugginess of pirated versions, incompatibility with mods, inability to use online features, or sometimes even just feeling guilty).

simonh 7y ago

Because you'll get a lot more sales in developing countries at $10 when the game has the latest tech, is freshly released, has load of buzz and is being heavily marketed, than you would 5 years later for the same price. Plus in 5 years the company might not have the same sales and marketing teams, management or even owners.

cgriswald 7y ago
I think your time table is questionable. Within a year, a $60 game will generally be $30, and $20 or less a year after that. I don't think you have to get total price parity for a regional release. Fewer people in the privileged markets are going to bother seeking out the game in another region to save $5 or $10 than they are to save $40 or $50. I'm struggling imagining who can afford the equipment to run 'the latest tech' but will not be able to afford a game that uses it. I strongly suspect 'the latest tech' is important mostly to the privileged markets. You might be right about the marketing. A hit game will probably be just as profitable later; maintaining or growing its own hype. The bigger problem I think is for games that are flops. Companies probably want to sell as many copies as possible before word gets out; and greatly staggering releases will result in a lot fewer copies being sold as you suggest.
- SimonPStevens 7y ago
  Latest tech is far less important for games these days. I have a laptop that is 4 years old currently (admittedly it was pretty top end when I brought it) and it still runs latest games perfectly fine, and I'm still not really seeing any need to replace it. Last year's Farcry 5 ran at close to max settings. Tech just doesn't make the gains it used to any more. Back in the 90's a 4 year old machine would be lucky to even start a new released game, let alone run it at close to max settings.

ygjb 7y ago

Because anything that impacts availability will result in piracy. If users can't or won't be able to afford it, they will pirate it. This cna be tempered with pricing strategies. If it can't be purchased, people will pirate it (e.g. region locked games, even w/o localizations, or delayed releases by market) - pricing doesn't matter here - if users can't get it, they will just pirate it, sometimes especially because they know it's going to be released later, and that decision by the studio has made them feel second class. If it's no longer available (abandonware, game developers that have gone out of business, etc) then people will pirate it. There are lots of platforms that are thriving on nostalgia right now because people want to pay for supported, working stuff. (For example, the resurgence of the Baldur's Gate and related games updates) Take a look at any $streaming_service threads and you will see that anything that interferes with streaming service catalogs or pricing will yield shouts of "Arr" and people clearly stating they will pirate shows or use gray market streaming sites. It's anecdotal but I suspect that most folks on this site are more comfortable with pirating movies or music, but often draw the line at video games because it is easier to relate to the development work done to make video games (even though modern blockbusters movies often have a lot of software development associated with them as well).

Fnoord 7y ago

For single player games that works. Artwork gets out of date, but hardly a dealbreaker (perhaps in VR?). However multiplayer games might become less popular over the course of 2 or 3 years. To the point where they're less fun.

cameronbrown 7y ago

Revenue over time is basically a log graph. Some games are practically worthless a year after release (see: yearly AAA junk) Indie markets work well with that model though. I've seen many indie games launch English-only and adding translations later on to sell to more users.