European Commission wants fixed pricing for digital games in all EU countries

The rise of digital games increases every year. The European Commission now wants to adjust pricing for digital games.

[SaveFerris]

Could this mean that multiplatform games on PSN & XBL will have the same price as Steam?

[Furesis]

that's what it seems like

[ravinash]

It's more likely that the rule will be the cost of the game has to be the same in all countries on that service.
Each service can still charge what they want.
So if PSN sold a game, the cost has to be the same regardless of what Euro country it's in.
Steam selling the same game also has to keep to the same rule, but it does not have to sell it at the same price as PSN.

So no, PSN & XBL will not start selling games at the same price as steam.

[UltraNova]

What they need to do is set a maximum retail price on digital games and let retailers fight it over. This will benefit the consumer which in turn will increase purchases since the online game market will steadily stabilize into lower prices due to increased competition.

Now as we should all know, nothing good goes unpunished; hence I would not be surprised if some people(corps) pushed their agendas to set those maximum retail prices even higher than most games sold today or allow for certain loopholes to exist in the new rules.

EU regulations and general stance towards the simple everyday man has deteriorated and withered away in recent years in favor of big capital. Anti-consumerism is what drives the EU Parliament and co, theses day.

Long story cut short, don't hold your breath.

[--bienio--]

You wish, Sony and Microsoft will find the way how to make gamers pocket empty.

[Volkama]

No. It means games on PSN in UK will cost the same as games on PSN in Germany and Poland.

I fail to see how this is any concern of the EU commission, it isn't their place to enforce pricing policies on games distributors.

[pyroxxx]

Agreed,.. I find it disgusting, these bureaucrats impending free market and free will,.. that in the end only screw up consumer

[Angeljuice]

It is absolutely down to the EU to manage the markets for European trade, it is their overriding remit and main purpose for existing.

[Volkama]

@Angeljuice Yes, quite so. I take back what I said.

The article description saying they "want to adjust pricing for digital games" in such simple terms is foul. But reading into it properly, the move to create an EU-wide digital ecosystem is definitely "their place", and something I'd get behind.

http://ec.europa.eu/priorit...

[NewAgeisHere]

That's about the only thing good about EU. This IS their concern. They did this when it came to high-speed internet as well when it was law that the government provides high - speed internet infrastructure. In my little country this meant that I could finally get fiber internet and at a reasonable price.

[Ashlen]

I'm pretty sure what they mean is not the same price on all platforms. But the price the same in all regions on a certain platform.

So if a game is 10 Euro on Steam in France it's also 10 Euro on Steam in Germany.

[Conker1975]

will they too investigate why in Europe we pay FAR more than the USA? i mean xbox one 70€ against 60$ is a HUGE difference!

[jetlian]

Because the queen and family need money and your high taxes!! Usa also pays more than 60 after taxes your price includes it

Edit: How do they think all countries should charge the same when living cost is differrent in said countries

[Angeljuice]

The Queen of Europe?
The UK doesn't use the Euro so our taxes are not relevant (taxes throughout Europe vary hugely so that is not a factor).

We pay higher taxes for a better standard of living (our poor people aren't left to die when they get ill etc).

[opoikl]

^This

Over here in Belgium (apart from standard taxes towards our social system) we pay 50 euro a year to an organization which offers free medicins and hospitalization for people living beneath the poverty line.

If I were to get cancer, this organization would cover about 95% percent of my medical bills, even though I make enough money to cover most of these myself.

It's a small price to pay for a system that's beneficial to all citizens, no matter their income or social class.

[jetlian]

You sound butt hurt! I was just saying taxes in Eu is higher than here and not just sales tax its import tax as well.

Me and family were just talking about the queen last week. My dad was saying he thinks not sure usa gives x amount to the uk/queen. I know for a fact usa gives money to jews.

Belgium its like 17-21 percent. My dad lived there in the 70s and goes back every few years

[TWB]

So, I dont know much about politics or what this exactly means but how it sounds to me... this can either be incredibly good for the consumer or completely fk up steam.

Good if theres finaly going to be some sense in the digital game pricing. For example most of the games are around 60€ physical and if you want, you can get most of the moneys back by reselling the game. In the case of digital they ALWAYS appear to be +69€ in the online store (except Steam, though the games still cost the same as physical) and you dont even own a physical property that you can resell.

So good if they are limiting the prices to sensible amounts, maybe even to steam levels.

On the other hand, could this also mean they are going to standardize small games with varying prices in PSN/XBL/Steam to a more broader price category and in quite a few cases, higher prices ? I dont know but to me it sounds like both could happen.

I think capping ridiculous prices is important but just dont mess with the small game prices.

[EazyC]

The article indicates it's exclusive to each platform, so not standardised across XBL/PSN/Steam, but standardised by state. So a game on UK Steam will cost the same on Spanish Steam... apparently that's the case anyway. That would be awesome though! I agree digital games on consoles are ridiculously priced, cannot believe that market has stayed afloat in the EU since its introduction.

[EazyC]

Why are they so stupidly expensive? €70 is crazy money for a videogame, the fact it's digital is taking the piss - surely production costs are minimised (distribution/logistic and physical production costs/overheads) so why isn't it reflected in the price?

They won't make it as cheap as Steam due in no small part to piracy -- or rather the absence of -- on new gen consoles. Steam also has to compete with a host of 3rd party digital distribution retailers (Amazon, CDKeys, BestBuy etc.). They can charge extortionate rates and get away with it on XBL and PSN, as it's your only option with digital downloads.

To the above comments, the proposed policy doesn't standardise pricing uniformally across ALL platforms; it just standardises the game pricing on the SAME platform, across EU states.

For example, if I pay €60 for my digital copy of MGS V on PS4 in Ireland , it will now be legally enforced that I would pay the same price if I was in Italy. I thought this was the case anyway to be honest (for PSN anyway, it's the same pricing across the EU), so it won't make much of a difference to me.

[OB1Biker]

Yea I dont get why people go for digital when a retail version is available. They should be a lot cheaper and feel like a total rip off.

[Seafort]

Steam isn't cheap for any new AAA games in EU/UK. Only US dollars pricing has stayed the same.

For instance MGS5 on steam is £46 (~$72). The Witcher 3 is £50 (~$78). Same with Fallout 4 and Anno 2205, AC:S and many more titles.

Steam is only cheaper when the sales are on or if you live in US or Russia.

This is why I shop elsewhere and get my games for £25 or less. I refuse to pay £50 for one game. If a time came that they enforced the pricing I would just stop buying games.

Edit: I've preordered a few games over the last month as they were cheaper than RRP. For example, MGS5 - £21, Battlefront - £22.50, XCOM2 - £24.50, Anno 2205 Gold Edition - £29, Just Cause 3 - £23, Fallout 4 - £21.50. I'm now sorted till next year :P

[paul-p1988]

"The European Commission is now in discussion to introduce a 'Digital Single Market' in the 28 EU Member States. In concrete terms, this would mean that all digital games on services like Steam, PlayStation Store and Xbox Live will cost the same in all countries."

Maybe I'm reading into it differently than the people above, but to me that means the prices will have to be the same across ALL platforms if it is the same product, which sounds amazing for console gamers as the price will either drop to Steam prices (about time!) or the price for PC games will rise and that's one less fanboy argument the master race can use lol.

Personally I only buy digital games, and if you are smart with it you can get PS4 games for the same price as physical (cheap top-ups, cashback, sales etc). I will never understand why digital is, at face value, more expensive than physical when there are NO manufacturing or shipping costs, I assume the only thing pushing the price up is the retail mafia trying to make sure they can stay in business as dinosaurs in a digital age.