Why is digital download more expensive then a physical copy??!

SC0TTRS

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Yet again, I'm in the position that popping to my local shop is cheaper then downloading the digital copy!...why?!? :confused:

Previous example is when BF4 was released, it was £10 cheaper for me to walk around corner from the house and buy a physical copy!

It's not for the advantage that if I need to do a complete re-install I have the convenience of downloading the game without the Disc! You get that option when you register on your steam/origin account once installed....

OK, there's a few others.....like guaranteeing you have a copy, installing the game ready for launch date or having the ability to play before it's released!......but is that worth the extra £££??!..

It kind of annoys me because Titanfall is coming out soon and all I want to do is login to my Origin account and buy it!, but I know it's £10 cheaper just around the corner!!!

Surely a digital copy would be cheaper than a physical copy!...Right?!? or I'm I missing something? :(
 
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MissChief

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Yes, it should be. When digital distribution was still in its infancy the publishers were bleating on about how it would mean cheaper games due to lower manufacturing and distribution costs. No boxes to make, no couriers or deliveries etc. what happened? Of course games are still charged at RRP by publishers with an occasional sale and larger merchants can negotiate bulk discounts and boxed copies remain cheaper. Thankfully cd key sites exist because if they didn't then alongside the huge reduction in space for PC titles in most shops the publishers would have us over a barrel.
 

Fenris

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Because it is clear than consumers are happy to pay the prices, developers sure as hell aren't going to argue with it considering they get more money from digital sales.

Honestly? Games are ****ing cheap. Consider what you can get out of them, no other form of entertainment really compares.
 
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AWPC

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Your not missing anything this has gone on for years. Its because Steam have the monopoly on digital gaming globally on PC. They are rumoured to get 30% per sale depending on the publisher/developer involved some even claim Valve can take up to 45-50% of each sale.

Naturally publishers being greedy money grabbing business corporations noticed this early on which is why digital prices are so artificially high as they stand to make way more from that than a retail release. I think the only thing keeping retail releases alive is in the EU the majority of PC gamers probably do not have super fast internet so that means for many retail is the best purchase still but in US PC retail is almost extinct & that's the 3rd largest PC gaming market in the world (behind China/Russia).

But the best thing to do is wait a few months until you see the game you want in a digital sale then no-one can argue they represent good value most of the time can they.
 

Nevakonaza

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Because they know people will pay the extra to get it right NOW without having to go to the shops etc..its crap but because idiots keep paying the extra its only going to carry on happening and prices going on up and up.
 

TheVoice

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Lots of reasons. It's not as simple as "no packaging - less cost" unfortunately, there are various factors in the physical retail channels that mean they can sell the games for less. Downloading games is still seen as a convenience for many so they'll pay more for it, therefore there's no great motivation to reduce prices because either someone will pay e.g. £30 for the download, or £25 for the retail copy; either way they've bought the game.

In PC gaming the situation isn't really that bad because there are various platforms/retailers selling download codes now, and PC gaming has so little representation in physical retail that a lot of sales are driven through digital distribution. It's a very different scenario in console gaming though.
 

SC0TTRS

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Thanks for the input guys :)

It's not that it costs less for a physical copy it's the fact they increase the price for the convenience and option to download a digital copy.

Seems like convenience is what drives people to pay this extra but you'll still see me buying it cheaper :p

It it was just a few pound difference I wouldn't mind but £10 would buy me a take-away along with my new game! lol :D
 

Omaeka

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Meh, digital is instant, and always there. You don't need to carry it around with you either if you wish to use it in several places, and you can never lose your copy. Of course it should be cheaper but meh, usually digital prices are inflated a little (I'm looking at you PSN) to encourage people to buy the games retail, which is most likely enforced by the publishers to avoid the crying retailers kicking up a **** storm.

Also, shops are very hard to compare. Shop A, B, C, D ... Z will all retail at whatever price they see fit, some will charge more or less than others depending on how easy it is for them to get stock and the price of it. Whereas for let's say BF4 (as you mentioned) the only real digital 'shop' is Origin, with some sites selling codes but usually not much cheaper unless it's region free and grabbed from Russia etc.
 
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SC0TTRS

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Omaeka said:
Meh, digital is instant, and always there. You don't need to carry it around with you either if you wish to use it in several places, and you can never lose your copy.
Click to expand...

Instant, damn! what speed to you download?! :eek: :p

I agree, but once you buy a physical copy you get the 'convenience' of all the above, but for less £££.
 

TheVoice

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SC0TTRS said:
Thanks for the input guys :)

It's not that it costs less for a physical copy it's the fact they increase the price for the convenience and option to download a digital copy.
Click to expand...

I'm not sure that it's just they increase price for the sake of convenience (certainly a factor though), but also retail can negotiate deals by buying more stock for a lower cost per unit. Then there's the fact that physical copies are a liability; they take up space and they lose money the longer they go unsold so there's more motivation for retailers to lower prices and be competitive in order to clear stock rather than have it sitting around in inventory.
 

chaparral

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Drizmod said:
Because people are lazy and will pay the extra to sit on their chairs and download the game rather than having to pop out.
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No it because hard copy's are crap because you need to keep the disc in the drive for 95% of games...
Plus you need to restall them one by one everytime you format...

Also I have around 300 games on steam if they were hard copy's where would I be able to find space to keep 300 crappy boxes ...;)
 
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