Next-gen pricing: European extortion

It’s not uncommon to see higher prices in Europe compared to the United States. This is fairly standard in most areas due to higher import/export costs and higher tax rates. Video games are no exception to the rule and routinely can be at least $10-$15 more per title. Console costs are usually higher as well, but these are relatively slim numbers for the most part, in the area of $30-$40 USD. With the announcement of the next-gen console pricing, the minor gap in price has become a gigantic chasm of which most gamers will likely balk at diving into.

[aksmashh]

Roughly about £80 extra!!!!!

PS4 £350 + 2 games £100 + extra controller £70 + psn £40 = £560

Ive got a decent job but no way im paying that much!!!

[Raf1k1]

Didn't realise games would now be £50. It's a good thing you get Drive Club with PS+ then.

Anyone know if game prices are actually going up next gen? I thought they were staying the same.

[lucidity]

RRP for games has actually been £55 since the launch of Modern Warfare 2 - Activision were directly responsible for the increase - and that was up from the previous RRP of £50, which has been around for most of this generation. UK retailers don't charge the full RRP because the market won't bear it.

[sjaakiejj]

Games are still £40 - £45 and the controller costs £54,-

I have no idea where you're getting your numbers from but they're incorrect.

Game prices: http://www.gamespot.com/new...

Controller Price: http://en.wikipedia.org/wik...

[aksmashh]

Amazon

The price for the controller is actually £89.99 on there which im guessing is a mistake

But still alot of money but it is launch prices

[sjaakiejj]

@Masterdon:

Rather than making baseless assumptions like you did, I actually provided evidence for my claim:

"SCEA CEO Jack Tretton told CNBC that that the plan is for PlayStation 4 titles to max out at $60, the same cost ceiling as existing PlayStation 3 games."

Also, PS1 games cost $49.99 back in the day, as did PS2 games. PS3 games got a price hike to $59.99, and PS4 games will again stick to $59.99.

[Gamer1982]

@sjaakiejj your right I remember buying Wild Arms at launch for PS1 for £39.99 for my PS1. RRP has only gone up once for PS2 games to £49.99 but we never see games get that high except for at GAME in the actual stores if you buy online you can get 99% of games at £40 and it will be the same next generation too. Developers found a way to offset the price increase last time by way of DLC and this time games are actually a lot easier to make making them twice as fast to make thus halving most costs such as wages etc... So that will offset the new increased costs of improved engines etc..

People should really look up these things before commenting complete crap like @Masterdon did. As for Activision they tried to increase the price of COD one year but if failed miserably with a massive consumer backlash. So instead they found a new way to earn income with stuff like COD premium or whatever you called it..

Also controller price has been announced at £54 http://www.scei.co.jp/corpo... current controllers are £49.99 RRP..

[BryanBegins]

People always forget about the taxes though! The price in Europe includes the (high) consumption taxes, while in North America, we need to add them. Depending where you live, the difference isn't that big. For instance in Canada, consumption tax is 12%, so the real cost of the ps4 is $399+12%=$447.

So while Europe (and especially the UK) get usually the short end of the stick, it isn't that bad.

[TheBrownBandito]

Bubble for you.

The UK price actually works out at £290-80p excluding value added tax at 20%. So that's around $450 + tax.

The differences in margin then come down to local overhead differentials such as logistics, insurance, salary etc. as well as overall volume.

At £349 I'm an extremely happy chappy.

[sjaakiejj]

Amazon always lists the prices much higher than they will actually be because they have a price guarantee.

If they set the price of their products to be at the price they expect it to be and the products actually end up being more expensive, they are forced to sell those products at the lower price point that they estimated.

They're therefore a terrible measure of what the products will actually cost ;)

[sjaakiejj]

When taking into account living expenses and salary, the difference honestly isn't that big. Exchange rate is a terrible measure of "unfair treatment based on region", especially now that the dollar is such a weak currency.

[SamPao]

There is a reason to that, go work in america, go work in europe, compare.

I don't complain

I'm free to buy my console wherever I want to
PS4 is region free, so who ever is not cool with the price, go buy it in the US.

I'm not gonna put the numbers up but I know it's going to be expensive.
Can/Do I want to afford it?¿

Up to me :)

HELL YEAH! 1k budget already planned!!!

[Freak of Nature]

What is the cost to ship a PS4 or Xbox 1 (or 360 or PS3) from the States to Europe these days? 50 euros (about $67 or so)? Higher?

It's the Australians that get the short end of the stick from what I recall...

[Freak of Nature]

Just found out... It's about $120 from the east Coast to Most spots in Western Europe... So you get no real savings...

[KentBlake]

Try living in Brazil. You people complain too much.