Downloads would be cheaper they said.

seen at least 3 sites have this at £18. So i dont really get the OP's beef...

If you think they arent able to cope with buying on such sites...you could always try something really groundbreaking, you buy it and email the code to them and they give you the money... how hard is that??
 
SkeeterUK said:
Steams 30% cut is what boosts it. £34.99 minus 30% gives it about £25. So in the op comparison from retail and steam it works out. Gog I think takes less cut so the retail vs gog should be cheaper. And humble site is just 5% cut isn't it so in theory that should be a better place. If it isn't then there inflation is due to competition profit margins they want so it isn't cheaper. :(
Click to expand...
I don't think it's that because Mortal Kombat X is a Steamworks game isn't it? So even the retail version will come with a Steam code.

It's bizarre indeed.
 
I'd rather have physical, because my internet connection is rubbish.
I don't want to download 30+ GB of content, it would be quicker to have it posted.
 
Ive noticed this price difference for a while, I totally agree its nuts but luckily for me I like physical games and Im happy to wait for the postman, even for release day games.

I guess it comes down to product popularity and the sellers cashing in. Digital games have become increasingly popular so theyve bumped the price up, cant blame them really as its the bread and butter of selling.

The irony is, it will not get any better. In a world where everything is going more digital, physical game disc's will decline until they have gone altogether. People will not revert back to physical discs so digital is here to stay, so for the time being, people buying physical games sometimes get a better deal.

Until it goes 100% digital and then they have the monopoly, then we are totally screwed.
 
Last edited:
In the 90s, we could get Tesco Value Beans for 4p a can, good luck finding anything like that price these days, try ~25p.

In the 90s, new games on CD were ~£25 on the Amiga. These days pc games do not normally cost over £100.

Ditigal game releases have largely made pc games "inflation proof," besides special editions, despite the increased costs for the companies developing games in offices.

Steam can often be undercut from elsewhere, but I do wonder how things will play out long term. One day Steam could say they are making a loss on the service they offer and then as far as I'm aware, they shut down, we all then waive goodbye to our digital games collection in our Steam libraries that has grown over decades.
 
UTmaniac said:
One day Steam could say they are making a loss on the service they offer and then as far as I'm aware, they shut down, we all then waive goodbye to our digital games collection in our Steam libraries that has grown over decades.
Click to expand...

Apparently - according to the internet :rolleyes: as I dont think there is any official word - Valve will unlock all games in your library so Steam is not required or something. Besides, the 'community' will find a work around but yeah it does make you wonder...what if?...
 
SkeeterUK said:
Steams 30% cut is what boosts it. £34.99 minus 30% gives it about £25. So in the op comparison from retail and steam it works out. Gog I think takes less cut so the retail vs gog should be cheaper. And humble site is just 5% cut isn't it so in theory that should be a better place. If it isn't then there inflation is due to competition profit margins they want so it isn't cheaper. :(
Click to expand...
I like that way you haven't said anything about all the cuts that need to be taken out of the £25 retail version..;)

Like amazon CUT
The place from where Amazon buys it from CUT
Shipping CUTS
Box & CD/DVD costs CUT
ETC ETC
 
Last edited:
SkeeterUK said:
Steams 30% cut is what boosts it. £34.99 minus 30% gives it about £25. So in the op comparison from retail and steam it works out. Gog I think takes less cut so the retail vs gog should be cheaper. And humble site is just 5% cut isn't it so in theory that should be a better place. If it isn't then there inflation is due to competition profit margins they want so it isn't cheaper. :(
Click to expand...

Steam's cut isn't what boosts it at all. The publisher or developer taking away 70% of the sale value is significantly more than they would get via physical retail copies.
 
Another thing I still don't like is that as far as I'm aware, any Steam game I've installed, cannot be be sold or even given away to someone else; refunds for games become an issue eg. Rfactor 2 recently became a Steam title, but existing users were warned, if they activate on Steam they instantly lose their right to a refund.
 
Because this:



Beats a cluttered mess like this :




Especially installing over steam is far faster, easier, and most importantly, you don't have to sit there for it to install and change dvd's or enter serials or any other rubbish. Not to mention if you have multiple pc's and laptops.

I actually hate optical media so much I bought some games on steam I already owned retail!

It's worth a premium, imho. Only buy retail if they activate on steam now! Steaming works great for many games too ( where a little slowdown sometimes is not a problem), which means your old budget i5 laptop with Hd5470 can actually play modern games with graphics on high too!
 
Last edited:
snowdog said:
Because this:


Beats a cluttered mess like this :



Especially installing over steam is far faster, easier, and most importantly, you don't have to sit there for it to install and change dvd's or enter serials or any other rubbish. Not to mention if you have multiple pc's and laptops.

I actually hate optical media so much I bought some games on steam I already owned retail!

It's worth a premium, imho. Only buy retail if they activate on steam now! Steaming works great for many games too ( where a little slowdown sometimes is not a problem), which means your old budget i5 laptop with Hd5470 can actually play modern games with graphics on high too!
Click to expand...

You can stream non steam games via the steam app too, its also sometimes nice to have a backup copy of the game rather than downloading the game multiple times over.
 
I'm guessing it is conversely down to the success of digital distribution that the physical copies have gone down in price. Some people still want/need physical copies so a publisher will have to produce x amount to make it even worth their time doing any, so these will be sold off and to ensure that there isn't tons of stock floating around it will be sold off at a discount to ensure as little as possible is left over. To a company like amazon having the vast majority of the stock of a certain item gone even at a reduced margin will be more cost effective than items just taking up space in storage.
 
Spud21 said:
I'm guessing it is conversely down to the success of digital distribution that the physical copies have gone down in price. Some people still want/need physical copies so a publisher will have to produce x amount to make it even worth their time doing any, so these will be sold off and to ensure that there isn't tons of stock floating around it will be sold off at a discount to ensure as little as possible is left over. To a company like amazon having the vast majority of the stock of a certain item gone even at a reduced margin will be more cost effective than items just taking up space in storage.
Click to expand...

It's always been possible to get retail copies cheap if you shopped around though, long before Steam et al became what they are today. I can't say I've really noticed any difference in the prices of new release games at retail over the past 10 years that can be attributed to the rise of Steam, Origin and other download services.
 
The reason retail copies were great is also that if you pre-ordered they were usually £10 cheaper as it meant less work for the publisher when they have a known quantity to physically produce.

Now this digital only push means that has gone away & unless you have a decent broadband FTTC your going to have to wait days to download the GB's of data. Modern PC games are closing in on 40GB average install (thats a lot of data for many PC gamers in the UK still as many places cannot have superfast broadband yet).

As they tell us :rolleyes: physical is dying out & WB have agreed to manufacture the Batman Akham Knight pre-orders made on amazon.co.uk up to 30th March surely it does not hurt them that much to produce a few % of physical media for the unfortunates with slow internet!
 
Hang on?!?!!? This is nothing new, I thought it was known digital versions of games cost more than retail because we live in this rip off country. In other countries such as the US digital games are cheaper than retail games.
 
UTmaniac said:
Another thing I still don't like is that as far as I'm aware, any Steam game I've installed, cannot be be sold or even given away to someone else
Click to expand...

But even if you bought a DVD of a PC game you wouldn't be able to sell it later second hand. Especially if it needs registering online.

I do hate that we can't sell our old games anymore. You still could do it, if you create one steam account for a blockbuster title you could sell that account as long as you can remove your personal details.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom