Crappy Steam Pricing.

[ECA]

So apparently the pricing on steam works as follows:
Steam/developer sign distribution agreement, valve take 40% of sale price to cover costs.

Developer sets price, and steam suggests an international currency set of prices ( at shitty exchange rates ), developer replies confirming it's fine.

The exchange rate used seems to be $1=1euro and some slightly different pricing for UK titles.

The problem is the developers often dont track the prices and means shortly after release when the prices drop Steam ends up being overpriced compared to buying a retail copy.

In my pissyness I've emailed the developers of Batman Arkham Asylum ( 24.99 on preorder 29.99 on steam ) Streetfighter 4 ( 29.99 on steam 17.96 on amazon ) Bionic Commando ( 18-20 quid online 29.99 on steam ) East India Company ( 29.99 Steam 24.99 elsewhere ).

Will post any replies I get

 

[Tom]

Free market in "works fine" shocker!

 

[TdC]

The exchange rate used seems to be $1=1euro and some slightly different pricing for UK titles.

tell me about it. strangely I find that uk purchases from euro nations are ok-ish, whereas USA purchases are just silly. eg UK-EUR is exchangerate, USA-EUR is 1:1. stupid.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Also, shoving your game on Steam is a great way to get sales you wouldn't normally. It's also great for developers due to the auto update/patching elements.

Other than that, I can tell you, it is an utter, utter bastard to work with. Or use as a user. It's devilspawn.

 

[taB]

Can get a new Eve Online account for 51 days for £2.99 atm through steam. That's pretty ruddy awesome in my opinion.

 

[DaGaffer]

Ha! This is a classic case of "be careful what you wish for". All those fuckwit net utopians I used to have to argue with a conferences about how digital distribution would "transform the value chain". Sure, but not for customers, and not that much for developers. There'll always be a middleman, whether you call it a shop, or Steam or Google.

Personally I won't buy off Steam since I came to Ireland because the exchange rate+local VAT+no discount means its always the MOST expensive option; problem is the stores are cutting and cutting their PC stock almost by the month.

 

[nath]

Personally I won't buy off Steam since I came to Ireland because the exchange rate+local VAT+no discount means its always the MOST expensive option; problem is the stores are cutting and cutting their PC stock almost by the month.

Are Amazon and the other mail order sites no good for you either?

 

[DaGaffer]

Are Amazon and the other mail order sites no good for you either?

Same thing, less and less stock. Took me ages to find Fallout 3, instore or online. Got a dusty copy in a GAME store in Belfast in the end.

 

[nath]

Odd, I've never found problems.

If you're ever looking for something it's always worth checking PC games, PSP games, XBox 360 games and games for GameCube, NDS and PS2 - Cheap video games price comparison, tis a very handy price checker.

 

[MYstIC G]

Yeah find games is the nuts. As is find cd.

Steam is good, however only because the deals are value packed. Individual titles are rubbish.

 

[Zenith.UK]

Steam is okay for Valve games, but even then there are pricing anomalies.
Left4Dead on pre-order was £29.99 going up to £34.99 on release.
I got it from Amazon on pre-order for about £24 including p&p.

 

[MYstIC G]

Not just their games, the mega packs are good deals.

 

[Ch3tan]

Don't forget that devs and publishers also do not want to harm sales of their traditional distribution methods by making steam a cheap option.

 

[Raven]

I am happy to pay the extra really, everything is there, I don't worry about losing my DVDs, I don't worry about patching. I find it quite easy to use myself.

 

[Ch3tan]

I am happy to pay the extra really, everything is there, I don't worry about losing my DVDs, I don't worry about patching. I find it quite easy to use myself.

You are happy to pay extra? Well good for you, I'd say the majority of consumers are not. But I'm glad for you that you seem to have so much disposable income that you do not care.

 

[Raven]

Did you read past the comma or are you just being a dick?

 

[Raven]

Anyway, its a the price of 3 pints, not exactly bank breaking is it?. I am not one that has to buy every single new release the day it comes out, I couldn't afford to if I wanted to! I only buy one game a month at most.

Other benefits of steam are the indy games, loads on there for less than £10.

They also have special offer weekends with some seriously good deals, but I guess we should skip over the good points to make it easier for knuckledraggers to flame!

Its an extremely popular distribution platform for the simple reason that it is convenient. The days of having to queue alongside Johnny Consumer in some stinking shop are over, get used to it.

 

[Ctuchik]

tell me about it. strangely I find that uk purchases from euro nations are ok-ish,

yes if you pay in £, if you dont use euro but have to pay in it anyway you can sometimes pay as much as 25% more then UK, and one hell of alot more then the US.

 

[Ctuchik]

Anyway, its a the price of 3 pints,

for you maybe, for me its a few days worth of food in price difference.

 

[Ch3tan]

Did you read past the comma or are you just being a dick?

I did read past the comma. Having a digital store for your product does not justify a mark up that only applies to non Valve games. And the price of 3 pints in London is £10, so please do not tell me that is nothing. Hell even at £5 I do not know many people who would choose the more expensive option unless it was the ONLY option.

 

[throdgrain]

I haven't bought a game in a box in ages, I always buy off Steam, don't have a problem with it. If you don't want to, well then, fucking don't

 

[Raven]

Exactly, if you don't like the price don't buy it. Its the wonderful world of consumer choice and the free market. Its been that way for some time now.

 

[Rulke]

I liked how Empire TW worked, bought the DVD cheap off amazon and activated it on steam - best of both worlds

Steam pricing is usually a fiver more, no one's forcing you to pay that but remember the benefits. Been to any LAN parties recently? You'll know what a bitch it is to get everyone running the same versions of games sometimes but you'll never have that problem with steam games. Also if you lose/forget/damage your DVD that's you screwed - not with Steam.

Plus the weekend deals and bundles are great value. I've never understood why some people loathe steam, sure it's a bit slow and clunky but it's a step in the right direction.

 

[Ch3tan]

Hold on now, where did I say I loathed it, or that I do not use it? I think it's great, but the pricing for non valve games is a rip off. Dawn of War 2 was £35 on Steam and £25 in the shops. FM09 was £30 on steam and £20 in the shops. If pricing was more competitive I would never buy a game in the shops again for the PC. If as consumers you accept over-pricing then it will not change, if you make a bit of noise then you never know, pricing may become more competitive.

 

[MYstIC G]

Actually, I agree with Chet. I don't follow the "pay extra" bit unless you want the game "NOW NOW NOW NOW NOW" or don't like being outside in the sunshine. I say this because as I understand it, with a lot of these games you can stick the CD-Key (or equivalent) into steam and voila, your game runs with the benefit of your steam account but you've got a cd and a manual and for less money?

 

[Raven]

The thing is, is it really that much extra anyway? Once you have factored in petrol, parking etc and on top of that the ball ache of actually having to go into shops. Not to mention the time. Depending where you live ofc I doubt you get there and back in under an hour. Its just hassle to use shops and usually wastes a morning at least.

Yeah sure its cheaper on Play.com and whatever but these are reliant on the postal service deciding if it can be bothered to deliver it on time, around where I live its piss poor for post. To pick on one retail outlet (play.com) they often just don't bother sending it out, you don't get a message to say the item is out of stock the order just sits in "ordered" limbo. I phoned them up to complain that they had not delivered a CD to my father in law for his birthday and the drone on the other end of the phone just said its out of stock, we will send it out in a few weeks. Nice to be kept in the loop!

 

[Nate]

I think it's a good thing that maybe Steam can't compete with some outlets as if it did then it would have far to much monopoly on the industry. It's nice to be able to shop around for better prices.

 

[Ch3tan]

The thing is, is it really that much extra anyway? Once you have factored in petrol, parking etc and on top of that the ball ache of actually having to go into shops. Not to mention the time. Depending where you live ofc I doubt you get there and back in under an hour. Its just hassle to use shops and usually wastes a morning at least.

Yeah sure its cheaper on Play.com and whatever but these are reliant on the postal service deciding if it can be bothered to deliver it on time, around where I live its piss poor for post. To pick on one retail outlet (play.com) they often just don't bother sending it out, you don't get a message to say the item is out of stock the order just sits in "ordered" limbo. I phoned them up to complain that they had not delivered a CD to my father in law for his birthday and the drone on the other end of the phone just said its out of stock, we will send it out in a few weeks. Nice to be kept in the loop!

I always order games online with play, game or amazon and have not had one problem yet -maybe I'm lucky, in the same way as I have not had any problems with Steam, although many others have. If I wanted to go to the shops it's one bus ride or a 20 minute walk. So no, it's not worth £5 - £10 extra for hgaving the game NOW rather than in a day or two.

 

[Raven]

Also with regards to the price of non-valve games, they are not going to sell them on for cost are they? The reason some Valve games are cheaper is because there is no middle man (well, Valve is the middleman) you are buying them directly from Valve. Its no different from Game, or Gamestation selling them on for a profit.
If anyone's to blame its the publishers, they could quite as easy set up their own digital distribution service and cut out the shops/Valve all together and pass the reduced price onto the consumer like Valve do, the reason they don't is that it costs money to run the service its self, in bandwidth, in support, in staffing etc. Don't forget when you buy a game it is always available for download, even years after purchase. Most publishers pretty much was their hands of a title 6 months after release and move onto the next project, the likes of EA etc aren't going to want to have to service a back catalogue of hundreds of titles so Steam really is the best option for them.

Anyway, yes it may cost a bit more financially (I am still not convinced it costs more when other factors are brought in) than most places but for that extra cost you get a far superior service that is easy to use.

 

[GReaper]

It's just annoying that they cut out the retailer, cutting costs for creating the product, packaging, distribution, along with the retailer having to keep the product, but we end up having to pay more for it.

Once you realise that certain games are actually cheaper at other places then people won't trust Steam and always look elsewhere before buying. Obviously not everyone (the lazy and those happy to pay for the convenience), but for those of us who expect the online version to always to be the cheapest it just feels wrong!