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General discussionWhy is The Witcher 3 cheaper than other RPGs?(43 posts)(43 posts)
(43 posts)
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Posted May 06, 2015
I can understand why you're curious as to the price difference (although as noted by caboose I haven't seen that many PC games priced higher than $59.99), but I might trust in CDProjekt's marketing experts as to what is a good price point for their game. As well, I think you may be underestimating the interest in this title. It's not just a 'niche' title - at least not in the vein of something like Pillars of Eternity or the various other kickstarted projects that specifically cater to an RPG niche taste.
Posted May 06, 2015
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tinyE: You know I asked my girlfriend that same thing. Why do you charge everyone so much less to sleep with you than you charge me?
Now that seems more like a legitimate concern. ;)
Posted May 06, 2015
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highsis: Is the game cheaper? Good for us, but there are reasons why other AAA titles are sold at $70.
Because other AAA publishers are run by greedy corporate fucks.
CDprojekt decided against it and it's natural some(obviously you don't. I do.) of us want to know why.
Because CD Projekt value long term customer loyalty and satisfaction higher than short term revenue increase.
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tinyE: You know I asked my girlfriend that same thing. Why do you charge everyone so much less to sleep with you than you charge me?
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stg83: Now that seems more like a legitimate concern. ;)
I don't get it. Isn't girlfriend sex always more expensive?
Post edited May 06, 2015 by Randalator
Posted May 07, 2015
the 20% discount for a preorder is already gone. don't know when that happened. bah, lost $5. I had resolved to pre-order this on faith in CDPRED even though I never preorder, but what made me make the decision was when the revised price caught my eye. disappointing but I wasn't gonna jump at that preorder either just because it was a preorder. still missed out some though.
Posted May 07, 2015
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johnnygoging: the 20% discount for a preorder is already gone. don't know when that happened. bah, lost $5. I had resolved to pre-order this on faith in CDPRED even though I never preorder, but what made me make the decision was when the revised price caught my eye. disappointing but I wasn't gonna jump at that preorder either just because it was a preorder. still missed out some though.
Come release day there's no direction for the price to go but down... *shrugs*
Posted May 07, 2015
I will stop speaking in my defense since I believe I've made myself clear.

I will sublate from making a hasty conclusion about the forum's standard since this is my first forum activity in months and I shouldn't generalize, but it's disappointing that I should be reprimanded by some people for simply asking a question.

For your information, speaking completely out of topic, I do have a great disdain for EA, Activision, and whatever the other company that was named together in the ad hominem comment, and I personally love CDprojekt much more than other RPG developers such as Bethesda and Bioware. However, I don't jump on somebody naming them EA fanboys simply because they don't join on the chorus of praising CDprojekt. Not that I am even criticizing CDprojekt; gosh. some of you really do overreact.

Does anyone have constructive comment as to why the price was determined as such, and if it is more profitable in marketing standpoint why other companies won't employ the same strategy, other than "cuz CDprojekt is awesome and EA is evil!" ?
Post edited May 07, 2015 by highsis
Posted May 07, 2015
$80 is hardly cheap...
Posted May 07, 2015
You do realize that almost all AAA games are based around the $59.99 prize point and not $69.99 right? That is the major problem I have with your argument .
Posted May 07, 2015
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HimTyers: You do realize that almost all AAA games are based around the $59.99 prize point and not $69.99 right? That is the major problem I have with your argument .
I am Canadian and most of AAA games have been priced at 69.99 for a few years now, including the upcoming Batman game, Assassin's Creed Unity, Destiny, NBA 2k15 and such. It was a fallacy in my OP that I wrote the price in US currency as I wasn't aware that steam displays price with local currency. However, my point still stands because TW3 is still 40% cheaper for me on GOG.

I will edit the op to indicate the Canadian currency.
Post edited May 07, 2015 by highsis
Posted May 07, 2015
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johnnygoging: the 20% discount for a preorder is already gone. don't know when that happened. bah, lost $5. I had resolved to pre-order this on faith in CDPRED even though I never preorder, but what made me make the decision was when the revised price caught my eye. disappointing but I wasn't gonna jump at that preorder either just because it was a preorder. still missed out some though.
Naw, the discount is still there... but now it only shows once you get to the checkout page. So no need to delay preordering any further ;)
Post edited May 07, 2015 by WildHobgoblin
Posted May 07, 2015
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highsis: Does anyone have constructive insight as to why the price was determined as such, and if this is more profitable in marketing standpoint why other companies won't employ the same strategy, other than "cuz CDprojekt is awesome and EA is evil!" ?
Because EA first and foremost has to satisfy its shareholders, while CD Projekt first and foremost has to satisfy its customers.

EA operates as much (if not more) through stock market revenue/net worth as it operates through actual game sales revenue. For shareholders selling cheaper, being less restrictive, being more open to community demands is riskier than taking the safe route of just publishing Call of Duty 17 at 60$ and DRM-ing the hell out of it. Unnecessary risk gets punished, lower revenue predictions (which they'd initially have to make) without "legitimate" reasons (like new studio acquisitions) get punished, especially with two equally big publishers just waiting to leave them in the dust. That's just how the market works.

Coming out 1 million $ on top in the end by taking a "Witcher 3 risk" isn't worth it because they'll lose more money on the stock market precisely because they took that risk in the first place. And since shareholders usually don't reward risks taken years ago, even if successful, and instead keep punishing every new risk, EA would have to weather out bad year after bad year before their successful risk strategy would actually be rewarded by the stock market. With their business model, they simply can't do that. Stock market losses would kill the company before they'd reach the other side.

GOG/CD Projekt due to its size and structure isn't as bound by shareholder opinion. It almost exclusively operates through sales revenue, and is thus able to take more supposed risks, be more creative, be more open to the community and less restrictive with its licenses. It actually has to be in order to be successful.

tl;dr
EA = managers for shareholders
GOG = gamers for gamers
Post edited May 07, 2015 by Randalator
Posted May 07, 2015
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johnnygoging: the 20% discount for a preorder is already gone. don't know when that happened. bah, lost $5. I had resolved to pre-order this on faith in CDPRED even though I never preorder, but what made me make the decision was when the revised price caught my eye. disappointing but I wasn't gonna jump at that preorder either just because it was a preorder. still missed out some though.
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WildHobgoblin: Naw, the discount is still there... but now it only shows once you get to the checkout page. So no need to delay preordering any further ;)
ah thank you my good man! let us all follow your advice!
Posted May 07, 2015
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cabooselol22: I haven't seen a $69.99 game since the first Deadrising. All the new games I get are $59.99, including the ones you mentioned. And this wouldn't be the first time a company gave discounts on their games for owning another in the series, this one is just better but even then you have to own both games to make a big difference.
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cogadh: Yeah, gotta agree there. The US "obligatory price" for virtually all new AAA games is $60, no matter where you might buy it (gotta love monopolistic collusion in the market). Generally speaking, outside of deals like the 10% deal GOG is offering (which are exceedingly rare), no AAA game has a price lower than that for up to years after its initial release. Usually the deals that are offered aren't even discounts, but more along the lines of "free Witcher t-shirt to the first 100 buyers". No retailer in my area has it for less than $60, and that includes major retailers like Walmart, Gamestop, Meijer, etc. (okay, Walmart does have it for $59.96 instead of $59.99).
This is precisely what I'm wondering about.

The currency I used in the OP and post should have been Canadian $(it's been $70 for most AAA games for a few years), not US $. That said, TW3 is still 40% cheaper for me than Assassins Creed Unity, Destiny, or the upcoming Batman game.
Posted May 07, 2015
A lower price tag makes me more inclined to purchase a copy and extra copies for friends. Whereas the $70 games(except Bioware titles) will make me wait until there is a sale to purchase them and I will not purchase multiple copies before or at release for others.
It actually seems like a better marketing strategy to me, seems like they are more likely to have more sales at a lower price tag than if if it was being sold at a higher price.
Posted May 07, 2015
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cogadh: Yeah, gotta agree there. The US "obligatory price" for virtually all new AAA games is $60, no matter where you might buy it (gotta love monopolistic collusion in the market). Generally speaking, outside of deals like the 10% deal GOG is offering (which are exceedingly rare), no AAA game has a price lower than that for up to years after its initial release. Usually the deals that are offered aren't even discounts, but more along the lines of "free Witcher t-shirt to the first 100 buyers". No retailer in my area has it for less than $60, and that includes major retailers like Walmart, Gamestop, Meijer, etc. (okay, Walmart does have it for $59.96 instead of $59.99).
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highsis: This is precisely what I'm wondering about.

The currency I used in the OP and post should have been Canadian $(it's been $70 for most AAA games for a few years), not US $. That said, TW3 is still 40% cheaper for me than Assassins Creed Unity, Destiny, or the upcoming Batman game.
I guess what most of don't get is why you think that is a problem. GOG and CDPRed like to reward their customers for loyalty and prefer to give them the best value for their well-earned dollar. Their philosophy is that, if you give the customer a good product at a fair price, then those customers will not only buy the game (instead of pirating it), they will keep coming back to buy future products. I know that is a foreign concept to most video game publishers, who seem to think of customers as a neccesary nuisance of the video game industry, but it is actually a better, more honest way of doing business.
Post edited May 07, 2015 by cogadh
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Community
General discussionWhy is The Witcher 3 cheaper than other RPGs?(43 posts)(43 posts)
(43 posts)