Why do PC games cost about the same price as console games do now..
- Thread starter chaparral
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Soldato
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But how is it possible to pirate an online game I.e. battlefront as an example. Surely more than one code wouldn't work?
yes i did a post on steam saying when are steam going to be price competitive.became quite a large thread.
dark souls 3 was on steam for £39.99 keysites as low as £19.99
doom 4 £39.99 keysites £23
one day soon this will bite them in the ass.
games arent more expensive.i been buying them on every platform for 30 years.
i can remember snes games at £100 trying to get import starfox 
neogeo aes games anyone ?
dark souls 3 was on steam for £39.99 keysites as low as £19.99
doom 4 £39.99 keysites £23
one day soon this will bite them in the ass.
games arent more expensive.i been buying them on every platform for 30 years.
i can remember snes games at £100 trying to get import starfox neogeo aes games anyone ?
I don't think it was ever as high as they try to claim.
There was even proper surveys done and it came back that large % said they had downloaded the games to try then went on to buy them which I have seen this from a lot of people I know.
Prices have gone up a bit but that was expected retail not supporting pc gaming is a real shame.
I found if you buy a game before release it tends to be cheaper then after noticed this with GTA and Fallout friends got each game for around £20 then they released both shot up to around £35
It's not, pretty much. Not coincidence that most AAA development is going online. Tim Sweeney said as much in the big Epic article on Polygon.
They exploit the fact that publishers are willing to sell games cheap to Eastern Europe, Asia and South America ect
They bulk buy in these regions, strip the keys and add a margin for themselves. Devs know it goes on, publishers know it goes on and no one cares. They probably figure that a good percentage of key buyers would probably have pirated it if it weren't cheap. So its a win-lose instead of a lose-lose
30% valve TAX (CUT) is most likely not much different to the cut by the time the middle man had there cut and then the shop retailer had there CUT then there was also shipping and boxing,DVD disc,Manual,Label,etc costs with a shop retail version..
Plus PC game piracy has always been high for many many years..
Current PC games also need the DLC for all content so double the price to give the true cost around £79.99 
In 2007 DLC was a new concept most games came with all of the content. In 2016 its the other way around for many games sadly the price rise is hidden within the DLC/season pass
In 2007 DLC was a new concept most games came with all of the content. In 2016 its the other way around for many games sadly the price rise is hidden within the DLC/season pass
In real terms games are cheaper - even at the "inflated" price (which I would rarely pay) to buy direct off Steam. Back in the mid-90's titles such as the Microprose flight sims (F15 Strike Eagle etc.) were £44.99 in WH Smith and I'm sure I paid £40 for Flight Sim 5. You got a big box with lots of floppy discs and a decent printed manual but I'm sure if you factored in 22 years of inflation those titles would be selling for £65 - £70 now.
Yeah, PC games were all generally £45 in the early to mid-nineties (£80+ inflation adjusted). I had a Rise of the Robots and Ecstatica (anyone remember that?) with the £44.99 price tags still on the box, which I sold a couple of years ago.
Games got cheaper when publishers moved away from big-boxes and floppy discs onto amaray cases and CDs. GTA III was £29.99 on PC in 2002 - £45 in today's money, the same price as GTA V.
As for the console comparison: does it even stack up?
Fallout 4, The Division, Rainbox Six: Seige are both £40 on Steam, £50 on Microsoft's Xbone store. Battleborn pre-order is £40 compared with £55, Just Cause 3 is £40 and £45. Doom pre-order is £40 for PC, £50 for PS4...
Where are the prices the same?
Soldato
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Thanks for that STEAM extension halfmad.
The grey market certainly helps, should you not mind the associated risks. Personally, I haven't paid more than £20 for a new release in years. Valve don't seem to care about people activating games with a VPN, as long as you don't use one to buy from another region direct from Steam.
Associate
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Post your evidence OP.
Looks like the publishers have finally started to notice 3rd party key reseller sites for new games. Finding all the upcoming PC games this autumn are virtually no cheaper on key sites than Steam Shadow Of The Tomb Raider for instance £67 for all content at launch and that is with the 19% discount for pre-ordering after launch it goes back up to full price £79.99!!
Shadow Of The Tomb Raider for instance £67 for all content at launch and that is with the 19% discount for pre-ordering after launch it goes back up to full price £79.99!!
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I remember cartridge console games going for like £70-£80 back in the day. Taking into account inflation games are still cheaper than these games even with dlc most of the time!