350°

Ubisoft explains how digital prices are set on PlayStation Store and Xbox Games Store

Ubisoft has explained how digital prices are set on both PlayStation Store and Xbox Games Store, revealing that the cost of digital titles may not be identical across the two networks because of individual "pricing matrices" set by Sony and Microsoft.

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videogamer.com
forcefullpower3802d ago

What a loads of bolloxs. You want to charge the same price as a physical disc. DD should be at least 5 or 10 quid cheaper than going to the shop.

colonel1793802d ago

Exactly! They save production costos, distribution costs, packaging costs, etc and they still want to charge the same.

When the Vita was announced, they confirmed that Digital Games will be cheaper. It never happened.

MasterChief36243802d ago

Actually it did happen. A majority of first-party digital Vita titles are $5 cheaper than their physical counterparts

bradfh3802d ago

Also you can resell your game dvd and get some money back, you cant do this with a digital download.

admiralvic3802d ago

@ Masterchief3624

Actually, a good percent of all physical games are cheaper than their physical counterparts, not just first-party titles.

nukeitall3802d ago

If MS vision of digital future would have gone through, buying a physical disc would have given you all the benefits of digital download for the lowered physical disc price!

@colonel179:

"When the Vita was announced, they confirmed that Digital Games will be cheaper. It never happened. "

There has been a lot of promises on PSP and PS Vita. Remember how Sony promised day and date release on PSP Go (digital) and PSP?

Never happened. Instead, you were treated to an early demise of PSP Go in favor of the older system PSP!

forcefullpower3802d ago

@nukeitall

But you wouldn't be able to buy the physical disc cheaper if Microsoft had there way as they were going to destroyed the used game market. i.e. end of cheap games.

dcj05243802d ago

$5 cheaper my man. You can buy a sub with that.

_FantasmA_3801d ago

How do you have more agrees than disagrees? Digital is actually cheaper on the Vita. I actually bought Zero Escape, PS All Stars, and Killzone Mercenary digitally because they were cheaper by about $7-10.

SilentNegotiator3801d ago (Edited 3801d ago )

They're only shooting themselves in the foot by not doing that. If my choice is "Disc with resale value and neat case to put on shelf" and "same priced DL", the choice is obvious.

"How do you have more agrees than disagrees? Digital is actually cheaper on the Vita"

Because no one has a Vita due to the fact that there isn't a lot worth playing on the most expensive handheld.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 3801d ago
Mikelarry3802d ago

there is no explanation other than greed nothing, nada you cannot charge more than physical copy it does not make sense to anybody but these greedy companies. as much as they tout this digital future i fear they are the biggest road blocks to that future.

Onehandband1t3802d ago

I can only assume its something that Sony and Microsoft have discussed with retail shops to keep them in business,

Just think, if all digital games were significantly cheaper than retail counterparts, shops like GAME and Gamestop would soon disappear.

I don't agree with the pricing for digital games, but we will have to wait and see what the future holds

forcefullpower3802d ago

Steam seems to able to achieve it very easily. Even if you go to blizzard or origin I always seem to find there prices never change either.

I am keeping fingers crossed that Steam will come through as an alternative.

MizTv3802d ago

I agree
Why can I get games on steam for $10 and it's like $40 on the other networks?
If these company's want to push digital then they need to make it worth it
It should be like half of disc price

admiralvic3802d ago

@ Onehandband1t

I doubt it. A lot of retail stores do sales and deals, which typically makes them cheaper than any digital game. Like, BestBuy was doing $20 dollar credit vouchers for some games (like BioShock Infinite) with preorder, which is probably more of a discount than you would see digitally on day 1. We also had Targets B2G1 free sale, which also brought day 1 games down to $40 dollars.

Not to mention, the ability to sell the games and store discounts will always make them appealing. Sure digital would affect it, but I wouldn't rush to the PSN to download a 30+ gb game to save $10 dollars when I can buy a physical version, save the download and sell it for $10 (in most cases) with ease.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 3802d ago
Death3802d ago

They save costs and they don't save costs. It depends on what both Sony and Microsoft charge to distribute it. Both companies offer tiered pricing, in this case Microsoft had a lower price teir that Ubi was able to use and still make what they projected. Sony didn't have a price teir as close so they had to charge more for the digital copy on PSN. Alot is determined by what Sony or Microsoft charge. Judging by the article it looks like Sony is charging more to the publishers to distribute their games.

Death3801d ago

For the disagrees, read the article. Both Ubi and EA had to reduce their prices on the PS4 to match Xbox One online prices. The article is very clear on how the price tiers work. To make the same profit on each console the PS4 price was higher. Both Ubi and EA lowered their prices to match the Xbox price. This would not have been necessary if Sony was charging the same or offered the same tiered pricing as Microsoft.

aquamala3802d ago

Do you know how much it costs to sell a game on psn/xbl compared to physical copies? Yeah I don't either, that's all under NDA. What if they are more expensive than physical copies because of sony/ms fees? "Greedy" Game publishers may not be the ones to blame here

denero13801d ago

Welllllll >.> wouldn't that kind of go against what some sony/ms reps have said about digital being cheaper?

AnotherProGamer3802d ago

I remember reading somewhere if Sony/MS put the prices of the games less than the physical prices than Gamestop will not stock/sell there games.

dragon823801d ago

This seems to be the case across the board. Most retail stores would not be happy about it and would threaten to not sell their products. This might not be a problem for software but it would be a huge problem if they stopped stocking hardware and accessories.

Kaze883802d ago

The problem is that currently around 70-80% games are sold by Walmart, Gamestop and Amazon....they say to MS and Sony or 3rd party publisher "sell these games on same price or we wont sell your game in our store" so you will likely loose 70-80% off the sales...none wants to oppose that. On pc its the other way around, most of the games are sold digitally so thats why games are dirty cheap on pc in steam etc.

_FantasmA_3801d ago

But if there are no knew games in stores then GS fails. They would only have used games and considering the online passes, maps, etc that come with new copies, I don't think GS would last that long. I think digital should be cheaper to offset the physical disk costs. It creates competion. PSN against GS, Digital against physical, driving against waiting for a download.

Kaze883799d ago

@Fantasma yeah they couldnt make it without new games but also publishers cant make without them either. They are kinda like necessary evil to each other.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 3799d ago
Chrono3802d ago

Instead of finding ways to improve digital sales, they're making them worse.

NicSage3802d ago

There is no reason to buy digital games when the physical is so competitive.

PC digital is a different story everything is dirt cheap & changes daily if needed, the digital market on PC is like the Physical market for consoles.

Onehandband1t3802d ago

So Microsoft and Sony feel its fair to charge these prices for digital download games. I understand there is a royalty inc in the price but it's digital. No resale value or shiny box to put on you shelf and yet it's fine to charge the same price.

Also don't forget that you are not only paying the same price for a digital game but then you have to add your bandwidth costs on top.
I am on unlimited so its not an issue really but with the size of next gen games, some people will be charged further for exceeding there total broadband usage. Pretty much a lose lose situation for some.

And yet Steams digital service you can pick up most brand new games for an average of £35 compared to Sony and Microsoft's £54.99, not to mention if you pre purchase games on steam you tend to get a further reduction. And with steam game trading in the works, there is resale value on digital purchases.

I can understand to an extent that gamers respective to there consoles get to use a premium service to purchase digital content for convenience, but it is a bit of a joke.

Looks as though the digital only future for consoles is pretty distant

monkey nuts3801d ago

Games will never sell at £55. Prices have always been in the £35 to £45 range here in the uk. If they think they can get away with charging more for games when the ps4 and xbone are easier to develop for due to their x86 architecture then they are in for one hell of a shock. Granted, the hardcore may pay those prices, but hardly anyone else will. Greed will imprison us all............

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260°

Microsoft Seemingly Closes Bethesda France

As part of its plans to cut 1,900 jobs, Microsoft has reportedly shut down operations at Bethesda France, letting go roughly 15 people

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insider-gaming.com
Hereandthere13h ago

Microsoft should have left them stay 3rd party

GamerRN11h ago

If they are let go, they can be whatever they want. They ARE 3rd party now... 🤦

Barlos8h ago

Yeah, they're also jobless.

GamerRN1h ago

They can form a company if they want, they are just as jobless as if "Microsoft had left them as 3rd party".

peppeaccardo3h ago

"MIcrosoft leaves Bethesda do what they know how to do best" ... close! Oh the irony ....
(Citation from a week old article)

PassNextquestion13h ago(Edited 13h ago)

Bethesda France was made up of roughly 15 people... they couldn't of being doing much

Bethesda France mainly did publishing and marketing within the region

blacktiger11h ago

that's a shame for you to say that, i'm sure Elite loves hearing what you just said.

Profchaos13h ago(Edited 13h ago)

Bethesda France focused on publishing and marketing in the region. And 15 people lost their jobs as part of the closure.

I wonder if this is part of Microsoft's strategy to abandoned physical media or possibly gamepass advertising makes their roles redundant you don't need to market a game as hard when the majority of players get the game as part of a sub which already promoted upcoming games

Tacoboto13h ago

It's France too, there's a high likelihood only 1-2 people on the team even had an Xbox.

Profchaos12h ago

Possibly guven all the leaks we know the Xbox brand is really struggling in the region.

Yi-Long9h ago

Well, if your consoles and games are barely found in any stores any more, of course you're gonna struggle finding consumers ...

XiNatsuDragnel12h ago

Tbh Microsoft I think Bethesda being 3rd party same with Activision would probably more competitive than thus scenario imo

Profchaos10h ago(Edited 10h ago)

I think it would have been better for all parties really especially gamers

TheColbertinator11h ago

The recently purchased Activision French offices might take over all the licensing and marketing for Microsoft in France from now on.

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130°

Sony Could Increase Your Game's Difficulty If It Sees You Complain About It

Sony has recently published a new patent that wants to dynamically handle the games' difficulty and gameplay based on the player's emotions.

jznrpg14h ago

This is something I might use. Sometimes I play some good games but they don’t have difficulty option and are a little too easy.

Profchaos14h ago

Souls games will be like that players struggling make it harder

PassNextquestion13h ago(Edited 13h ago)

I think if used correctly it could work well

jambola9h ago

cool idea
cool idea for horror games especially
the way it's explained here sounds like it could never be forced hopefully, so that's ok with me

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60°

Ubisoft's Recent Antics Have Me Fearful For The Sands of Time Remake

Hanzala from eXputer: "With Ubisoft's practices becoming increasingly anti-consumer lately, the destruction of The Sands of Time Remake looks almost inevitable."

thorstein7d ago (Edited 7d ago )

Hey Ubi, here's a gun, don't shoot yourself in the foot.

*Ubi takes gun, aims at foot, empties clip*

Chocoburger7d ago

At this point, only dummies have any hope left for Ubi-junk games.