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General discussionConclusion of the Fair Price Package program(910 posts)(910 posts)
(910 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted February 26, 2019
On March 31st we are going to discontinue the Fair Price Package program. Let us explain the reasoning behind this decision.

We came up with Fair Price Package (FPP) as a way to make up the price difference between various countries. Some games on GOG.COM have regional pricing, meaning the price of the same game in one place can be higher compared to its price in North America. In countries where the game is more expensive, we give users the equivalent of the price difference in GOG Wallet funds. In actual numbers, on average, we give users back 12% of the game price from our own pocket. In some cases, this number can reach as high as 37%.

In the past, we were able to cover these extra costs from our cut and still turn a small profit. Unfortunately, this is not the case anymore. With an increasing share paid to developers, our cut gets smaller. However, we look at it, at the end of the day we are a store and need to make sure we sell games without a loss.

Removing FPP is not a decision we make lightly, but by making this change, we will be able to offer better conditions to game creators, which — in turn — will allow us to offer you more curated classic games and new releases. All DRM-free.

We wanted to make sure you have some lead time to still benefit from the Fair Price Package. The program will last until the 31st of March, 2019, so if you would like to take advantage of it, now is the time. The funds you gather from the program will keep the 12 months expiration date from the moment you’ve been granted your last funds.
Posted February 26, 2019
high rated
First of all, thank you for your support. This was not an easy decision to discontinue the FPP program and we're grateful to you for understanding the reasons behind it. We see that quite a few of you raised concerns about GOG's future. As a part of publicly traded company, we can't comment on any financial results until they are officially reported, but we want to ensure you everything is good with GOG. Being part of a big gaming company, some reports - especially some given by significant media outlets - can often sound much scarier than reality.

You've been also concerned about your access to the games you’ve purchased on GOG. We've covered this topic years ago and it's been in our User Agreement for a long time (please check the section 17.3). This is not only a legal obligation to you but a core part of our ethics as a company.

But don’t worry, all is good, and we have a great plan for the future of GOG. We can’t wait for you to see some of the exciting things we have coming very soon.

EDIT: pinned
Post edited February 26, 2019 by elcook
Posted February 26, 2019
high rated
avatar
zgrillo2004: Never understood what FPP is or what it did, but since I live in NA, it seemed that it didnt affect me. maybe an explanation to this will be nice.
Let's say there's a game that sells for $50 in the US.

Now the same game may cost $65 in another country because that country has for example additional taxes when buying something or the economy of the country is simply stronger than in the US, so people can afford more.

Now with the FPP, when I bought this game for $65, I would at the same time gets $15 from GoG as store credit.

That worked because GoG had a share of 30%. So if I bought the game, the developer would get $45.5 and GoG would get $19.5 of which they basically gave $15 back to me, so GoG's gain was still $4.5 from my purchase.

Of course if GoG reduces those 30%, they'd actually make loss with every game purchased, so it's not viable anymore.
Post edited February 26, 2019 by RyaReisender
Posted February 26, 2019
low rated
I think it's high time to start backing up GOG installers XD
Posted February 26, 2019
Considering the recent news of GOG's financials, this doesn't really come as a surprise (and it was probably to be expected when Epic Games announced their lower cut that other stores had to follow suit (fuck them)).

As someone who almost always pays the highest regional price, this has a quite significant impact. However I completely understand the reasons for doing this (and really appreciate the honesty and upfrontness -- I hope that's here to stay), so I don't blame GOG but rather the publishers whenever a game is significantly more expensive than in other regions.

Also, I think the publishers opting for significant price discrimination are just shooting themselves in their feet, because a higher price will just make it less likely for me to buy their game, and I find it likely that other people feel the same way.

But anyway, thank you GOG for keeping this program for so long and being honest with us.
Considering the recent news of GOG's financials, this doesn't really come as a surprise (and it was probably to be expected when Epic Games announced their lower cut that other stores had to follow suit (fuck them)).

As someone who almost always pays the highest regional price, this has a quite significant impact. However I completely understand the reasons for doing this (and really appreciate the honesty and upfrontness -- I hope that's here to stay), so I don't blame GOG but rather the publishers whenever a game is significantly more expensive than in other regions.

Also, I think the publishers opting for significant price discrimination are just shooting themselves in their feet, because a higher price will just make it less likely for me to buy their game, and I find it likely that other people feel the same way.

But anyway, thank you GOG for keeping this program for so long and being honest with us.
Considering the recent news of GOG's financials, this doesn't really come as a surprise (and it was probably to be expected when Epic Games announced their lower cut that other stores had to follow suit (fuсk them)).

As someone who almost always pays the highest regional price, this has a quite significant impact. However I completely understand the reasons for doing this (and really appreciate the honesty and upfrontness -- I hope that's here to stay), so I don't blame GOG but rather the publishers whenever a game is significantly more expensive than in other regions.

Also, I think the publishers opting for significant price discrimination are just shooting themselves in their feet, because a higher price will just make it less likely for me to buy their game, and I find it likely that other people feel the same way.

But anyway, thank you GOG for keeping this program for so long and being honest with us.
Post edited February 26, 2019 by Lillesort131
Posted February 26, 2019
sadly fair price is something nice you still have the DRM free only I hope it stay.
I also appreciate that more of my money goes to game creators.
Post edited February 26, 2019 by ben56k
Posted February 26, 2019
I was expecting this move, sadly. I doubt GOG is expected to make their owners a lot of money but they must not be a big drain either.

I pity those countries with fairly low buying power for luxuary items and with higher regional pricing. I suspect a lot of customers from those countries might "move to another country..." (virtually = start using V**)

Is this a price war between shops? Steam, GOG and Epic should have no problem surviving that if there is will but some others, who cannot afford to lose millions, might die.
Posted February 26, 2019
high rated
This really sucks. I understand why they're doing it (unlike many of their other recent business decisions), but it's yet another erosion of the distinction between GOG and other stores such as Steam. Yes, it's good that developers are getting a bigger cut, but - as with Epic store exclusives - it's a shame that this has to come at the expense of the consumer. Let's hope at least some devs will consider lowering their prices a bit to compensate.
Posted February 26, 2019
low rated
So I guess it's about time I started backup up my GOG games catalogue?
Posted February 26, 2019
Not happy
But does this mean you'll no longer be taking 30% cut.

I'll definitely be more observant of pricing and will chase devs/pubs that don't offer regional pricing.
Posted February 26, 2019
low rated
didnt even know this was a thing hopefully we will see more old titles that we love and new titles aswell, better to concerntrate on gaming DRM FREE, cos im against steam in everyway
Posted February 26, 2019
well, it was nice while it lasted :) still happy to support a DRM-free website even if it means paying a bit more :)
Posted February 26, 2019
avatar
MrFortyFive: I'm sure this won't sit well with plenty of users outside of NA, but I can appreciate the brutal honesty in "We need to make money and this is preventing us from doing that".
Pretty much, I hate getting screwed over by American publishers/companies because apparently $ = €.
Posted February 26, 2019
low rated
avatar
zgrillo2004: Never understood what FPP is or what it did, but since I live in NA, it seemed that it didnt affect me. maybe an explanation to this will be nice.
Short version without breaking out calculators is that a bunch of other countries have crap money, and because of inflation and international dollar conversion and stuff, GOG came up with the idea that everyone could pay the same price for games, despite their own money being crap compared to the almighty dollar. Whatever difference in price that was lost in translation was a big debt bag that GOG decided to carry around for a while in order to please their customers that come from countries with crap money. This was called fair pricing, but in the end that debt bag wasn't quite so fair to the one entity that mattered most. GOG itself.

And it looks like GOG finally decided to put down the bag.
Posted February 26, 2019
Considering the recent news of GOG's financials, this doesn't really come as a surprise (and it was probably to be expected when Epic Games announced their lower cut that other stores had to follow suit).

As someone who almost always pays the highest regional price, this has a quite significant impact. However I completely understand the reasons for doing this (and really appreciate the honesty and upfrontness -- I hope that's here to stay), so I don't blame GOG but rather the publishers whenever a game is significantly more expensive than in other regions.

Also, I think the publishers opting for significant price discrimination are just shooting themselves in their feet, because a higher price will just make it less likely for me to buy their game, and I find it likely that other people feel the same way.

But anyway, thank you GOG for keeping this program for so long and being honest with us.
Posted February 26, 2019
high rated
It was nice while it lasted, but fundamentally wrong from the start - GOG paying for arbitrary desire of some devs to screw some people more than others based on something as arbitrary as a country. In a global world. Some of the price difference could be explained by different taxes in different countries, but +37% is insane.

I always try to evaluate if the price (after all discounts and FPPs and whatever) is right for me, and not look in my Russian or African neighbour's plate. This may lead to me buying less games because the price will go up, but won't blame GOG for it. Devs/pubs have option to do fair prices themselves whenever they feel like it would give them enough PR advantage - rest is on us consumers.
Posted February 26, 2019
low rated
Considering the recent news of GOG's financials, this doesn't really come as a surprise (and it was probably to be expected when Epic announced their lower cut that other stores had to follow suit).

As someone who almost always pays the highest regional price, this has a quite significant impact. However I completely understand the reasons for doing this (and really appreciate the honesty and upfrontness -- I hope that's here to stay), so I don't blame GOG but rather the publishers whenever a game is significantly more expensive than in other regions.

Also, I think the publishers opting for significant price discrimination are just shooting themselves in their feet, because a higher price will just make it less likely for me to buy their game, and I find it likely that other people feel the same way.

But anyway, thank you GOG for keeping this program for so long and being honest with us.
Considering the recent news of GOG's financials, this doesn't really come as a surprise (and it was probably to be expected when Epic announced their lower cut that other stores had to follow suit).

As someone who almost always pays the highest regional price, this has a quite significant impact. However I completely understand the reasons for doing this (and really appreciate the honesty and upfrontness - I hope that's here to stay), so I don't blame GOG but rather the publishers whenever a game is significantly more expensive than in other regions.

Also, I think the publishers opting for significant price discrimination are just shooting themselves in their feet, because a higher price will just make it less likely for me to buy their game, and I find it likely that other people feel the same way.

But anyway, thank you GOG for keeping this program for so long and being honest with us.
Considering the recent news of GOG's financials, this doesn't really come as a surprise (and it was probably to be expected when Epic announced their lower cut that other stores had to follow suit).
Post edited February 26, 2019 by Lillesort131
Pages:
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This is my favourite topic
Community
General discussionConclusion of the Fair Price Package program(910 posts)(910 posts)
(910 posts)