Guardian: What does the Modern Warfare 2 price point mean for the industry?

Guardian writes: "Activision intends to release the much-anticipated shooter, Modern Warfare 2, with a retail price of £54.99 - five pounds more than most new releases on the current consoles. And it looks like other publishers are likely to follow suit."

[Cajun Chicken]

Blockbuster is going to get a lot more members fast and ironically, secondhand gaming will be more popular than ever.

[benny o klaatt]

It took me ages to part with 40 bones for WAW cos i was never sure about ANOTHER WW shooter. now £54.99 for a game??? F**k that!!! thats coming from someone who dropped easily £230.00 on an ion drum rocker day one. £40 yeah, absolutely no more, absolutely not £55

EDIT: infact the only tin boxes i have is PDZ - the girlfriend bought me and GOW2 i managed to get a day early so i could brag to my work mates. MW2 £40 brand spanker, no more.

[Bnet343]

I really feel bad for people across the pond. This is outrageous. I sort of feel lucky for living in the US because we get all games on time for the standard price.

[SnuggleBandit]

means i'm gonna be hittin up ebay a lot more and not buying many games first day...that is if this price becomes a common trend

[RussDeBuss]

thing is, with cod4 the used price stayed stupidly high, when the special edition was released with the map pack it was £45 in game, and used copy of standard edition was £42. game take the piss, i went to asda the next day and they had the special edition for £38.

pure rental for me. i can't see the multiplayer having anything much better than cod4/5 so i will wait for bad company2 for multiplayer and stick with badcomapany 1 and kz2 for multiplayer for now and just rent cod6 for singleplayer

[Mindboggle]

I dont know if this will happen with MW2(Probably not). But on the weekend of WAW's realese ASDA were selling the PS3 and 360 versions for £27 !

[Jellzy]

Its crazy m8. The only place i buy my games from these days is either Asda, Tesco, or Play.com. \any1 who buys games from game, or gamestation is nuts. Cant remember the last time i payed £39.99 for a game on release, never mind £54.99.

[yoghurt]

I think this is disgusting. Especially as Activision were slating PS3 for being high priced, shocking.

[mastiffchild]

It can be amazing for all I care and I won't pay more than I would for any other game I'd be interested in. Activision don't seem aware of even the concept of irony. How can they be viewed as anything other than a gigantic bunch of double standard infused greed mongers?

The GHWT band in a box pricing fiasco was bad and now we have the same with DJHero and even damn COD MW2! Does any other publisher farm out a franchise to a B team just to ensure a game every year? And does this now mean that the next Treyarch COD will be back to normal price as IW are the A team? Just why should we pay more for MW2 than any other big budhet game? Because we liked the last one? It's the only reason I can see but by that logic EVERY sequel to a good game would be hiked pricewise, no?

A'vision are just streaking ahead of even where EA got to on their, thankfully forgotten, charge into being odious and are now the most reprehensible company in gaming today.

Pick up your award Acti, you effin deserve it and the tirade about PS3's price just pulled into focus the fact that you're the people with pricing issues and margin obsessions. I won't buy it unless it's at normal price or, more possibly(and I RARELY do this)buy it second hand. If it wouldn't mean hurting MS unfairly I'd be tempted to pirate it and I doubt that there won't be a sharp rise in folk doing just that because of this blatant piss take.

I just wish we gamers would pull together over this crap and not just give in "cos we're COD4 fans"-it's because we never make a stand that this stuff keeps happening with Acti. That said, to me it's not THAT big a loss as I'm now a bit sick of the floaty nonsense they call "controls" anyway but I realise everyone else and their FPS loving dog will call me out over that! Still, how do they have the effin front? Does this mean U2 should be worth £70?

[beavis4play]

i wasn't going to buy modern warfare 2 anyway, BUT.......i don't care WHAT game it is - i'm not going to pay any price increases. i've drawn the line at 59.99 (here in the states)and won't pay even a dollar more.
and yea; this coming from activision?......after what bobby kotick said about high price of ps3?........it's just unbelieveable they'd pull this kind of crap.
folks, if you go for any price increases now.....there will surely be more to follow in the not too distant future.

[JonnyBigBoss]

Activision is officially my least favorite gaming company hands down. I won't be buying the game but those who do are paying up the booty for it.

[rockleex]

Activision is raising the price of MW2 because Sony is greedy. And Sony PR needs to STFU after giving 64 billion gamers the finger. Remember, Sony lied... <_<

/sarcasm

[Roper316]

that is why I will only buy Activision published games used from now on if they happen to release something worth buying. Screw Activision and their hypocrisy!

[PirateThom]

It means Activision are trolls.

[Christopher]

Seriously. The only reason Activision has an issue with the PS3 is because the overall number of people who buy their peripherals are less than that of the 360. Sad thing is that percentage-wise, a higher percentage of PS3 gamers buy those peripherals.

Activision makes a killing on cheap pieces of plastic and they'll keep putting them out there as long as people buy them. DJ Hero. Guitar Hero. Band Hero. Tony Hawk.

You can bet if motion controllers take off they'll be shipping a custom 'gun' motion controller with all of their FPS games.

Now, what does this have to do with the price point increase? The closer they can get their non-peripheral games closer to their peripheral-ridden games the less of a hard choice it is for gamers to go out on a limb and buy those cheap pieces of plastic.

[JeffGUNZ]

Is it still $60 in America?

[LinuxGuru]

If it's higher than 60 in America, expect a lot of pissed off people.

[Christopher]

Pissed off people who will more than likely still buy the game at the higher price.

[Megaton]

That's the problem. Gamers will get pissed off over anything, but it's almost always just a bunch of empty bluster. I've never stepped foot into a GameStop because of their pro-ass rape stance, but I'm the only one I know who both hates GameStop and doesn't go there. Everyone else just goes there angry.

Same thing with this. People are pissed, but almost all of them will still buy it at the outrageously bullshit price hike.

[beavis4play]

i'm not going for a PENNY increase.

[benny o klaatt]

I'm with you beavis. Fuuuuuuuuuuu that to infinity and beyond

[evrfighter]

hmmm games that over $60....

how that takes me back to the snes days :D I'd lol if they tried charging that much on steam.

[Boody-Bandit]

I agree that most will still buy it if it is over $60 dollars but I definitely wont be one of them and COD4 is one of my favorite titles this gen.

[phosphor112]

It's obvious that all he wants is f*cking money. He's not gettin sh*t from me.

[Fishy Fingers]

When this info first came out I looked and NO retailer here in the UK has it listed at £55. The majority have it set around £45, which admittedly is £5 more than most high profile titles but I think if you enjoyed the first, you'll enjoy the second just as much so I'll be buying it.

Honestly, I've always found current games to be cheap, back in the day SNES or Mega Drive games could be as much as £70 and look at the content you receive now compared to then. Development costs are also far higher.

I guess if you think it's to steep, wait and get it cheaper or miss it all together. But I dont think many will be deterred by the extra £5.

Edit: My older post containing the links http://www.n4g.com/NewsCom-... #4

[Cajun Chicken]

Still, thinking a bit more about this situation, this is the suggested retail price in shops. I mean, take this, whilst in shops Infamous and Prototype were like £45, when shopping online you can usually pre-order them about £10-£15 cheaper. I expect this to happen with MW2.

Not saying that's it good, but traditional shoppers are going to get shafted if they don't look around, especially online.

[Fishy Fingers]

Check my older post, I show links to both online and high street retailers. You can find it maybe a few pounds cheaper online, but they're all pretty much the same, about £45. Still I bet if you wait a week or two you'd find it online cheaper.

Bare in mind though, high street retailers have much greater overheads to account for which is why they're usually more expensive. I guess you could see it as paying a premium for getting the game "now".

[callahan09]

Yeah games were more expensive in some prior generations. I'm in the states, and I remember buying Final Fantasy II on the SNES for 80 dollars when it first came out. That was more than 15 years ago, when the dollar was worth less, and yet the games used to cost more than games cost today. But, games today cost more than they did last generation, so I still don't like it, haha.

[benny o klaatt]

back in the speccy and amstrad days, games were £1.99. and i had to save up for two weeks to get i ball 2, treasure island dizzy or roland in the caves. Activision can really get funked. mw2 second hand FTW. 360 owner

[Jamaicangmr]

I read through and all the posts about am not gonna buy it are a joke. Activision will come under little heat for this and in the end 99% of those who claim that they are never going to buy it at a higher price will do just that.

We pay far more attention to which console sells more and has a higher attach rate than the important sh!t. Like these companies trying to fvcking rip us off. Just because COD4 sold amazingly well they choose MW2 to test the waters. Fvck you Activision.

[KingEamon]

God, I fcking hate Activision

[Minted]

LOL! £55, games are retailed at £40 but no one actually sells at that price, unless you are a mug and buys them on the high street!

[Pandamobile]

I won't pay more than $50 for a game.

[TheMART]

Stop crying! We pay 65 Euro already on the mainland for a game, 55 pounds is like 63 Euro, so that ain't overpriced in my eyes... The other games they sell in UK seem underpriced compared what we pay overhere for example in The Netherlands!

[RedVsBlue]

I sure hope places like Gamestop become more popular thanks to this

[benny o klaatt]

yeah Gamestation and Game FTW. Infact anyone who sells secondhand MW2 at less than £40 FTMFW and you better believe.

[dgroundwater]

69.99 in Canada. Then again every major release is (RE5, Halo 3 ODST etc).

[Loxhart]

I remember when ps3 games were sold for 130NZD here, a $10 increase still seemed alot to me. >.>

[Memo-Xen x3100]

Activision is getting old, Modern Warfare one's success was a fluke(first modern war shooter in FOREVER). The multiplayer for this one better be damn solid because that is the only reason modern warfare one was worth checking out. If the multiplayer of MW2 is not drastically updated for the better I'm not giving a penny to activision and I suggest anyone who reads this do the same.

[divideby0]

not going to buy it...that is what we have to tell these greedy publishers, especially Act. who has the utter nerve to tell sony to lower their prices and then pull this BS..
what a bunch of hosers

[JonnyBigBoss]

I don't even buy new games anymore, unless it's a must-have on release. I just use craigslist to trade/sell/buy. That way I play for free, believe it or not.

[Karum]

I can't believe Activision had the audacity to criticise Sony and the price of the PS3 when they release a game at this price.

I checked out the Hardened Edition on Shopto.net and it has an RRP of £69.99 (shopto are selling it for £64.99) and that extra cash is for a steel case, an art book and a downloadable copy of the original COD. Sorry but I just can't see the value in that.

The bare bones version is going for £42.99 on shopto (RRP of £54.99) which isn't as bad but there's no way I'd pay £54.99 or more for the game.

[raztad]

@Karum

While I dont plan to get ANY Activision game (not even used or when they hit the bottom of the bargain bin) I totally agree with everybody here feelings. Just the idea of other publishers following track scare me. If something should happen is games getting a price cut not the contrary.

How Kotick dare to blackmail Sony while they were planning to increase MW2 price is something beyond me.

[peowpeow]

Not complaining or anything, but games in oz are $120 which is total bs! It can't be because of the australian dollar, even when it was the same as US it was $120
Luckily, Target and Big W are kind enough to sell for $80 ^_^'

Question: Is EB Games Gamestop?

[devilhunterx]

(scratch Activision off his shopping list)

[DeviateFish]

While I am slightly annoyed at this increase in price, it must be said that at least four major UK retailers are selling MW2 for £45, £5 more than normal. And the normal PC version is still only £30.
That being said, it's not the actual increase in price that annoys me, but rather this sneaking suspicion I have, that Activision are only doing this because they think they can get away with it. I have a feeling Activision is sitting there thinking "Suckers, they're inhaling this stuff, increase the price!"
I also remember the SNES days where I had to pay £70 for a cartridge, and some games were even over £100.

[somekindofmike]

it all just sounds like PR spin to try and convince the gaming public that it's justifiable for activision to put the price up, straight after they bad mouthed sony for charging too much for the PS3...

Sorry but doesn't the PS3 costs so much per unit to build which is comparable to the RRP, where as a game probably costs no more than £5 per unit to produce, I know most of the cost of a game comes from R&D so they need to cover there costs for that, but the PS3 would of cost a considerable amount more to design and build than any game.

[Javier19]

You can get it online from places for around £42.99, still thats too much imo.