Here:
The demand for the game is shown on the Kickstarter page... So far in this thread .... there are what - 50 people that actually backed up the project? This is not demand mate...

I saw your post! And now you edited it. Traitor! :P

Thanks for the reply, it's nice to hear what's going on (and that you actually did consider the game). Maybe you'll still pick it up another time when Goldhawk's willing to drop the price.

Well.. I wouldn't say no to the $25,000 they've gotten from those people already :)
It may be overpriced to you at $25, but others would claim it is overpriced for $10! Pick any new GOG release topic and you will likely see such a claim there..

There is an actual difference between what you get for those prices, as you say, like clock speed.

It's not the same as having the "halo" level card and doing this:
Release at $25. Those that are willing to pay that much, will buy it then.
Drop the price to $20. Those willing to pay that much, will buy it then.
Drop the price to $15. Those willing to pay that much, will buy it then.
Drop the price to $10. Those willing to pay that much, will buy it then.

You know.. that thing that has happened to every single game on GOG over that games entire lifetime?

In fact.. it's exactly what GOG is doing to them.. waiting for the price they are asking to come down before they "buy".

I'm sure they have good reasons for saying no (like making it harder to get other publishers/developers to go for lower prices if they say yes) but to simply say "No, you're indie, the max is $20" would be simply stupid. If that was the case, where's the customer love for the people who want to buy the game here at release, even if it is $25?! :P

Kindly paraphrase that quote to better elucidate how I implied it won't sell better with a lower price.

I'm not even going to bother with the demand bit.

In 31 days we will see what is the exact demand for the game... so far 1000 people want it ;)


About pricing Wasteland 2 is greatest showing how to do this:
15$ - 1 copy
30$ - 2 copies + extras
50$ - 1 digital copy + 1 retail

See the diff now?

1000 more...some people have preordered through Desura and been playing alpha builds. I already payed $20...I'm not going to contribute to the Kickstarter, too.

I've been playing it, it's worth $20 in my opinion.

Yeah I do. So what's your point?
Depends. I haven't bought a $50 DD game before, but I have for boxed games. Very rare though, it must be a game I really want, or good value for money e.g., X Superbox or ARMA X Anniversary Edition. For a digitally distributed Xenonauts, $30 is the max I'll go. The last game I paid nearly full price for was Arkham City, and that was heavily discounted after using up my credit on GMG to lower it to $30.

For boxed editions, based on what I experienced in the demo, I'd gladly pay $100-$120 for a nice, hefty physical copy, so long as it comes with more than just a box, a disc and a manual. $150 is the max, but even that's pushing it a little too far and I may reconsider.

American nightmare is an expandalone, on xbox it's an XBLA game rather than a full game.

And how many of those 1000 backers + the guys who already preordered on Desura will pay 20-25$ more on GOG?

Last post before I disappear off, just to put forward the alternative viewpoint for higher pricing on games.

Telling a developer that they shouldn't be charging a premium price for their product isn't something I'm fond of, mostly because I think it's the exact reason why few X-Com style games were made. Hardcore strategy games don't sell that well, and they're expensive to make relative to those sales. So if you're not allowed to charge a premium, developers naturally go for a game that will sell better or is less expensive to make (as people have to eat) and suddenly the original niche is utterly abandoned - which is what happened with the mainstream publishers, I believe.

This isn't a dig at GOG, as they said "the game isn't right for OUR audience at that price point", which is different (and fine). But sometimes people do express that opinion online and I think they should think it through in more detail.

Most people on this forum instead seem to be arguing we can sell it for any price we like, but $15 would be more sensible and would get us more sales. Fair enough, that's a better argument, but I still disagree. A few points:

1) Without wanting to sound patronising, having met various game developers at events, you do tend to get more information on sales figures over a beer than people are willing to post online. That leads me to think that a high price point isn't going to cause us too much trouble.

2) You can always lower a high price after release, but you can't raise a price that is too low. Better to start too high and work down than go the other way.

3) Niche titles (and Xenonauts is kinda niche) tend to hold their value well and will continue to make reasonable sales for a long time after release, simply because not many other games in that genre come out to replace them. There's not the same downward pressure on prices as you'd get if we were, say, making a 2D indie platformer.

4) I'd argue prices have been on a downward trend for a while, and trying to compete on price leads to a race to the bottom like as happened with iPhone games (that is not a good thing - now you only get a profitable game if you have a massive marketing budget). I think it's better for everyone if companies compete on quality instead, although it may not seem that way when you have to fork out more cash for a game.

5) Lowering the price does not necessarily mean you'll make more money, although everyone aways seems to assume it does for some reason. I know quite a few people who have dropped prices and made more sales, but not enough to cover the price drop (all of which is coming out of their margin). Here's a quick article on it - http://positech.co.uk/cliffsblog/2010/01/24/if-you-lowered-the-price-you-would-make-more-money/

You don't necessarily have to agree with all of that, but those are my views. A fair amount is subjective, but please don't assume that I'm a fool because we're not selling our game for the price that you specifically think it is worth. That likely just means is that you're not part of our core audience.

This is the key. You can't price discriminate using anything but time, so if you want to make the most money you can per customer you gotta keep the price high to begin with. Just like AAA titles start at $50 or $60 but eventually drop far lower.

Sure, perhaps not the best way to earn goodwill if you can instead start out at a lower price, so that the early adopters don't later feel gouged. But some extra dough in your pocket is a lot easier to eat, so to speak, than goodwill.

Not saying Chris is or isn't correct here, but I think his position is definitely reasonable.

(Full disclosure: I'm one of those suckers who already pre-ordered, during its second offering on Desura. Even clicked the "let me give you more money" button, fool that I am. ;))

A part of his problem is he seems to think he's a niche release still..but it's not anymore and tbh never really was.
There have been UFO style games by the bucket load in the last 5-10 years hell this year we even see a tactical XCOM game again (ok it's simplified for consoles but it has some nice new features to make up for the stuff they simplified)

Thank you for chiming in although I object to being an ant. :)

Was your only objection price? Would GOG be willing to accept the game at $20?

Maybe we'll see the game here anyway some time after the release and a bit cheaper, like with Alan Wake.