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[Suairyu]

This is the British markets making it the way it should be.

The entire videogame market needs to change its pricing strategy.

If most games are being bought at £20, that is all the customers see them as worth. Adjust your budgets accordingly and release the damn game at a price point it can sell at.

It's ridiculous how Eastern European developers can make games that look better than the Western games by a huge margin, contain a lot more content, be generally more artistically satisfying, all made with a smaller team on a smaller budget.

Most PC games launch over here at a price of £24. Few games are actually worth more than that, in my opinion.

 

[KAL2006]

I think in future developers are going to be more aggressive and force people to buy new. For example Mortal Kombat having an online pass for new copies. If you buy used you need to buy online pass from PSN/XBL. This is actually working, I was going to wait for MK to become dirt cheap and buy it used from a trade in store, but now I am going to buy it when it's £20 for new.

 

[D4Danger]

I said it in the other thread but it's because (most) games aren't worth £40

£20 is about right for most things except big releases.

I remember at when the 360 launched and they tried to charge £50. That idea bombed hard.

 

[KenOD]

I do wish we could get out from the "only the first week matters" mentality that popped up for sales on just about every side of the industry. I'm sure that is hurting the stores and developers in certain ways. Now I wouldn't call this a crash, it's still huge business coming out of a recession. Not as good as before isn't the same thing as it's crashed.

Price wise? We had games start low or fall low in price with the Spectrum and Apple II. Mega Drive for a bit too, it just slowed down with game systems once it hit CD and DVD, and has since returned. I remember getting one of the Dizzy titles for nearly half off the original cost as one of my first game purchases not even a week or so removed. I imagine it'll settle down at £20-£30 range and be that for a while, then in a decade and half removed from that it'll be in flux again if we still have retail game stores.

 

[Coen]

I've just ordered Portal 2 for just under €35 from the UK. If I were to buy the same game at the local videogames store, I'd probably be paying €60. I'm all for supporting local shops and I don't mind paying a tenner more, but this is getting insane.

 

[JudgeN]

Almost all of these have been on sale for significantly less already, though.

Hell, I bought FIFA 11 last year for under $40.

A sale isn't a price collapse and that seems to be whats happening in UK.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Games cost too much. If games were cheaper, I would buy a hell of a lot more games. Simple fact. I view the fierce competition on the pricing front as a good thing, certainly for the consumer.

We're at the tail end of a recession, we've just had a rise in VAT, with many people on frozen wages, or having pay increases below the rate of inflation, the cost of living is increasing, people in public services are facing redundancy -- and so on and so forth - luxories like computer games have to go down the pecking order.

Yup, expensive games are a luxury a lot of people can't afford right now. My sister has just come out of a two year pay freeze only to learn her wage rise for this year is 3.2% compared with RPI inflation of 5.4%. Times aren't good right now, which is also why I believe the 3DS has had such a lukewarm reception.

 

[Zomba13]

Yeah, I just can't afford to pay £30-40 on a game these days.

£20 is my sweet spot. I'll buy almost any game at that price, but only an exceptional one for £30+.

This. If a game I like is £20, I can deal with that easy. I'll pay up to £30 if it's a game I'm reeeeally hyped for.

 

[PjotrStroganov]

The UK currently is so good for me. Even got a creditcard to make the most of it.

I've just ordered Portal 2 for just under €35 from the UK. If I were to buy the same game at the local videogames store, I'd probably be paying €60. I'm all for supporting local shops and I don't mind paying a tenner more, but this is getting insane.

Me too. Ordered the PS3 version from amazon.



And now I'm hoping it will still arrive before the easter weekend. Probably not

 

[radioheadrule83]

I think in future developers are going to be more aggressive and force people to buy new. For example Mortal Kombat having an online pass for new copies. If you buy used you need to buy online pass from PSN/XBL. This is actually working, I was going to wait for MK to become dirt cheap and buy it used from a trade in store, but now I am going to buy it when it's £20 for new.

Those practices may work, but they are annoying as fuck.

I rented FIFA 11 from LoveFilm, and the online pass thing didn't make me want to buy the game, it made we want to write to EA and tell them they suck. I pay £40+ a year for Xbox Live, I am not going to pay them too, and it really put me off buying the game because I thought to myself - what if I got a new Xbox, and lost the game case or something like that?

 

[Starwolf_UK]

Granger Games

Gainger games are still largely irrelevant contry-wide* even if it suspiciously is growing rapidly (seriously they've opened more store than ever since the financial crash...everyone else is shutting stores how are they doing).

*-The Southernmost store is Derby...I realise this might also answer the how are doing it part. I'd imagine storefront are like the South East property market. Horrendously overpriced.

 

[UnblessedSoul]

I used to buy games at full price, but now I just wait till they are around £20 mark now, I'm in no rush unless its a big release which I'm really hyped to play and I think is worth the money

 

[Mooreberg]

Does VAT contribute to significantly higher prices? Might prompt people to wait for a price drop. Waiting to get a better value is smart consuerism, not necessarily a bad market.

 

[zomgbbqftw]

Those practices may work, but they are annoying as fuck.

I rented FIFA 11 from LoveFilm, and the online pass thing didn't make me want to buy the game, it made we want to write to EA and tell them they suck. I pay £40+ a year for Xbox Live, I am not going to pay them too, and it really put me off buying the game because I thought to myself - what if I got a new Xbox, and lost the game case or something like that?

I thought Online Pass was linked to your XBL account so once you transfer it to the new Xbox then the pass should come with it...

 

[Withnail]

I think there's simply a lot more competition in the market these days, particulalry from supermarkets getting into games in a big way over the last few years and the growth of online retailers - I know I buy all my games online these days, and there are plenty of places to choose from when you're looking for a good deal.
The increased competition is driving prices down more quickly than before!

Higher competition from supermarkets and the like is not exclusive to the UK. The point of the thread is to question whether the extremely aggressive price cutting we see specifically in the UK is a sign of a deeper malaise.

Personally I agree with the OP that the UK games market has got itself into a downward spiral of deflation. However I wouldn't go so far as to say the market has crashed yet, and certainly as a gamer it feels pretty good But it does make you wonder where things are heading, it seems to be unsustainable.

 

[ymmv]

Price wise? We had games start low or fall low in price with the Spectrum and Apple II. Mega Drive for a bit too, it just slowed down with game systems once it hit CD and DVD, and has since returned. I remember getting one of the Dizzy titles for nearly half off the original cost as one of my first game purchases not even a week or so removed.

The big difference is development costs. In the 8-bit era games were made by one, sometimes two (if the teenage programmer was rubbish at making chip tunes). Development costs were ridiculously low, profits were enormous. Nowadays it takes dozens of people even to develop a low budget game. With the size and feature set of the game, the number of developers needed just grows and grows. It costs many, many millions to create even total sales failures like Knights Contract. I shudder to think how much money Namco lost on that one.

 

[Darth Sonik]

This whole premise is flawed. The UK has probably the most competitive retail market (certainly among the large supermarket chains) in the world.

These chains have gone hog wild on loss leaders. They sell books, DVDs, games, consoles, TVs etc. at massive discounts or with loyalty card points, in order to get people in their doors.

They even have their own petrol/gasoline stations, banks, insurance, mobile phone networks.

While there are long term implications to these practises, they do not constitute a crash. Yet.

 

[ymmv]

This whole premise is flawed. The UK has probably the most competitive retail market (certainly among the large supermarket chains) in the world.

These chains have gone hog wild on loss leaders. They sell books, DVDs, games, consoles, TVs etc. at massive discounts or with loyalty card points, in order to get people in their doors.

They even have their own petrol/gasoline stations, banks, insurance, mobile phone networks.

While there are long term implications to these practises, they do not constitute a crash. Yet.

Yes, supermarkets are taking away sales from high street shops. But as a whole sales are going down. Read the article I quoted in the OP. "In total, 19.3 per cent fewer games were sold last month compared to March 2010, with the value of the games market down 14 per cent"?

 

[Bleepey]

I remember the awful days when games were £40-50 at launch and they stayed high and people used to import from Europe! I am happy prices are how they are and i hope the industry can sustain itself.

 

[I NEED SCISSORS]

Yes, supermarkets are taking away sales from high street shops. But as a whole sales are going down. Read the article I quoted in the OP. "In total, 19.3 per cent fewer games were sold last month compared to March 2010, with the value of the games market down 14 per cent"?

I think they are forgetting that March 2010 was a really big month in comparison to March 2011:

Bad Company 2
Final Fantasy XIII
God of War 3


There was also the 3DS launch in March, which is bound to limit spending on other games.

 

[Facism]

It's currently fucking brilliant in the UK. Even better now the supermarkets have jumped onto the used sales market.

 

[ymmv]

I think they are forgetting that March 2010 was a really big month in comparison to March 2011:

Bad Company 2
Final Fantasy XIII
God of War 3
There was also the 3DS launch in March, which is bound to limit spending on other games.

You think 2010 was a much better year for sales...? "UK games market falls 16% for H1 2010"

So the UK games market has been shrinking for the past two years.

 

[1-D_FTW]

I think in future developers are going to be more aggressive and force people to buy new. For example Mortal Kombat having an online pass for new copies. If you buy used you need to buy online pass from PSN/XBL. This is actually working, I was going to wait for MK to become dirt cheap and buy it used from a trade in store, but now I am going to buy it when it's £20 for new.

Not what you're getting at, but yes. They should kill retail. It's takes way too much of the profit. Then sell exclusive at DD and DRAMATICALLY cut prices. By cutting out the retailers and killing used sales, they would more than make up the money and consumer would be able to buy more games and be much more experimental with their money. The sooner this day arrives, the better. Why I was so disappointed the direction Sony and Nintendo took with their new portables. They need to be dramatic. And yesterday already.

 

[Granger Danger]

I saw a brand new copy of Bioshock 2, a couple of months after release, for £7. I think it's dangerously close to the edge; aside from a select few, all of my friends buy Call of Duty and FIFA all year round with nothing else, and the people who play more games than that tend to pirate them.

Final Fantasy XIII, one of the most expensive games ever made, was down to £9.95 within just six months after release. The business model is simply unsustainable this way. It's getting very, very dangerous.

 

[dc89]

I saw a brand new copy of Bioshock 2, a couple of months after release, for £7. I think it's dangerously close to the edge; aside from a select few, all of my friends buy Call of Duty and FIFA all year round with nothing else, and the people who play more games than that tend to pirate them.

I got Bioshock 2 for £9 new. I bought FF14 for £6 brand new last week.

I personally do not buy man games anymore. The last few games I bought new before that were Crysis 2 but before then, hmm, probably WoW Catacylsm and before that it was Reach. I used to be getting new games every month but not every more. I'm much more into playing my backlog these days.

 

[Notorious_Roy]

This is exactly what Nintendo was talking about when they talked about those iPhone-games for a dollar. People expect games to be that price, and they are not. So people won't buy games and the price comes down way too fast.

 

[GarthVaderUK]

It would be interesting to see a breakdown of the numbers in the OP. Is any platform in particular predominantly to blame for the drop in sales? Or is it spread across all platforms?

In 2010 for instance, even though the overall market was down compared to 2009, 360 and PS3 software revenues were both up, with 360 bringing in the most cash:
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/42366/UK-2010-games-market-hits-2875bn

Could it be a drop in interest in the Wii and/or DS?

Digital sales could have grown since last March too.

Do the numbers include the used games market? Quite a lot of retailers are dealing in used games these days...

 

[GraveRobberX]

Anyone else think there's too much saturation?

I mean I get the supply & demand, the % and all the economics that go with it.

Every month there's like 2-3+ titles that are released in succession, they have no time to sell

The gaming industries mentality of being like Hollywood, can't be sustained. Paying 20-40+ million budgets for games and hoping to recoup and earn profit on it.

I mean if you bought 2 titles every month, for a whole year, it would equal $1,560.00 ($65 [+ tax included] * 2 = 130 * 12 = $1,560.00, if you day 1 it.)
That is ridiculous in the context of "Hobby". Yes we gamers look for good deals, most of never reach this absurd amount, but game companies really are trying to push for it.

It took 2-3 months for a good title to be released. Now it is on a weekly basis, + all the stupid budget earmarks added from the publisher to release game on said release date, and patch in the all the game breaking things later = gamers backlashing the idea, and waiting.

 

[Granger Danger]

Times aren't good right now, which is also why I believe the 3DS has had such a lukewarm reception.

How about the fact that the launch line-up is abysmal.

 

[MWS Natural]

I am sorry, I am so sorry.

HAHAHAH BEST RESPONSE OF THE DAY.

Spoiler

I just seen this movie last week =D

 

[TheDrowningMan]

Everyone but Nintendo could make a start by initially pressing - at a conservative guess - around 60-70% less of the majority of their mid to upper tier releases. There would be far less dead stock, a much longer amount of time before ridiculous price cuts are required and I'm sure this would eventually translate to savings. Indeed, given that Nintendo do it that way, I would say it's more or less certain.

 

[navanman]

I'd be interested in knowing how much of the UK-based online market & supermarkets the UK charts cover.
There are so many options now for online buying at ultra competitive prices (Amazon,Play, The Hut Group, Gamestation, etc..) and supermarkets that I really question how accurate it can be.

 

[Castor Krieg]

I think he's absolutely right. A market where the majority of all new games have huge price cuts in a matter of weeks isn't healthy at all.

Do you suggest we should regulate game prices? Game companies have to make a better value proposition to the customer in order to prevent huge price drop in a matter of weeks. This is what should be happening.

The reasons for huge price slashes are easy to see and probably already mentioned here: games compete with other forms of entertainment, gaming market is saturated with multiple AAA releases every month, finally not all games are simply worth the full price, but publishers refuse to launch the game at e.g. 25GBP, and launch at 39.99GBP, even though it doesn't make sense.

You can also use different distribution method - episodic (Telltale games), pay-as-you-go (Minecraft), etc. You can also launch it on DD service at lower price point (thank God PC market is healthy in mainland Europe).


Any market where the price is dictated by market conditions is healthy. This is not some neoliberal crap, it's simply cold, hard logic.

 

[Emitan]

You can also use different distribution method - episodic (Telltale games), pay-as-you-go (Minecraft), etc. You can also launch it on DD service at lower price point (thank God PC market is healthy in mainland Europe).

What? Minecraft is a one time purchase.

 

[Castor Krieg]

What? Minecraft is a one time purchase.

I meant "buy now to get cheaper price, or wait until the game is done and pay 20EUR". I know I used nad choice of words, it's 1AM here and I wanted to finish the post.

 

[J Tourettes]

It would be interesting to see a breakdown of the numbers in the OP. Is any platform in particular predominantly to blame for the drop in sales? Or is it spread across all platforms?

In 2010 for instance, even though the overall market was down compared to 2009, 360 and PS3 software revenues were both up, with 360 bringing in the most cash:
http://www.mcvuk.com/news/42366/UK-2010-games-market-hits-2875bn

Could it be a drop in interest in the Wii and/or DS?

Digital sales could have grown since last March too.

Do the numbers include the used games market? Quite a lot of retailers are dealing in used games these days...

This is a very valid point. Also the practice of game prices dropping by about 50% within two months has been going on for a while now yet only in the past two years have games been selling less.

 

[syoaran]

I don't think the UK market has crashed by any means, but I don't think customers are happy with being taken for a ride any more. They can't afford to be.

The last two years (three, depending on your profession) have been hard to the biggest buyer of games (young adults in uni/leaving uni and parents) because of the combined credit crunch/low value of the pound/massive layoffs/raised taxes. Games used to be the safe bet because they actually did better during economic depression because of the low cost for a lot of enjoyment. But with games lasting on average 6hrs and the price being high at launch because of the pound (and old retail practises), gaming is no longer holding it's inherit value vs other forms of entertainment at that price point. Not to mention that the newest forms of gear are not exactly cheap for first time buyers (360 + Kinnect, PS3 + 3D + Move, 3DS).

It's also paired with the fact that nothing has really stimulated the casual market since Wii Fit to go out and buy consoles and software. Games companies are complaining that the existing hardware has over-stayed its welcome, and is not longer part of the active consumer mindset. They might be right, I guess we will only know when the Wii2 comes out and hope that it's a boon to retailers in the country.

Bottom line is, I'd not look too far into the UK market until people stop watching their bank balance day in and day out. When people have disposable income, they will spend it (if theres a product they want).

 

[dc89]

This is exactly what Nintendo was talking about when they talked about those iPhone-games for a dollar. People expect games to be that price, and they are not. So people won't buy games and the price comes down way too fast.

Yup. In this interview ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai_FqoWrIP4 ) Reggie is asked 'When you're faced with free gaming such as Farmville and games for 99 cents, how do you win?'

'We win with great content'.

*like a boss*

But yeah, cheap crappy games are killing this industry. But then again so are crappy shops. Game are good for certain things but terrible for others.

 

[Zeal]

I really think its just the global economy right now in general.

 

[nephilimdj]

edit: removed

 

[herod]

Although there are still a few suckers who will pay out big bucks for day one, I just think that fewer and fewer people are getting fooled by the typical identikit sequel by numbers that constitutes the average publisher release schedule now.

Sorry, but the only difference normally between a game coming out now and the one that came out 18 months ago is the story and the number at the end, and neither of those things are worth a £20 premium to play early. The consoles are tapped out, there is no wow factor.

 

[supermackem]

I'd be interested in knowing how much of the UK-based online market & supermarkets the UK charts cover.
There are so many options now for online buying at ultra competitive prices (Amazon,Play, The Hut Group, Gamestation, etc..) and supermarkets that I really question how accurate it can be.

Yep thats the point i was making, do these numbers cover supermarkets, online shops like amazon,zavvi etc etc. If not theres you answer more and more people are buying online and in there supermarkets as they buy there milk and eggs they pick up a copy of blackops for £20 less than hmv or game.

 

[PumpkinPie]

The less I pay for a game I enjoy, the more likely I am to buy any sequels and the more likely I am to hold the game in high regard. I bought Fable II on release for damn near £40 and hated it, I bought it at Christmas for £8.99 and put many tens of hour into it and absolutely loved it.

It's a lot easier to overlook any faults a game has when you can buy it for a quarter/ third of the RRP.

If games went back up in price to what they used to cost, I just wouldn't buy them any more. I think game prices now reflect what they are actually worth and people are happy to pay those prices.

 

[stOex]

I do like most serious australian gamers order a lot of games from the UK. Even with shipping it is still a lot cheaper than aussie retail. That's quite brilliant in my books.

 

[BitchTits]

Consumers are saying "£40 is too much" for a video game - They've been saying it for years, but now maybe they're letting their wallets do the talking?

 

[Drkirby]

This topic is really based on my post? I feel honored.

 

[Burai]

Yup. In this interview ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ai_FqoWrIP4 ) Reggie is asked 'When you're faced with free gaming such as Farmville and games for 99 cents, how do you win?'

'We win with great content'.

*like a boss*

But yeah, cheap crappy games are killing this industry. But then again so are crappy shops. Game are good for certain things but terrible for others.

Oh dear.

Cheap, crappy games aren't killing the industry. Over saturation from big-budget me-too titles are doing that.

In the console space, the days of shovelware are over. Even the smaller developers and publishers are spending well beyond their means, trying to compete with the big boys and wondering why their game didn't sell. Looking at the release lists on a site like gameplay.co.uk and seeing just how many games are being released all at the same time, all for £40 and it doesn't take a genius to work out that nobody can afford to buy all of those games. And even if they could where would they find the time to play them?

The fact is that video games are, to the majority of buyers, throwaway entertainment, being sold for a premium price and that just doesn't work. Look in your local Game or HMV and see the games in the preowned section and observe how many games are being sold back within a week of release. That's the most alarming thing for me. Not that people aren't buying games at full price but that so many of those that do are getting rid of them so bloody fast. If people who buy £50 games think they are only good for a couple of evenings' play, how do you convince those that can't afford such premiums that they should dig deep in their pockets?

These "cheap, crappy" games aren't putting people off of buying full price games. Full price games are doing that for themselves.

 

[mrklaw]

It hasn't crashed, it's getting mainstream and the publishers simply can't sustain the high prices, hence the cuts. I'm surprised there hasn't already been noises about publishers cutting wholesale prices to support retail, or Sony/MS cutting license fees to do the same.

It happened with PSone and ps2, it's just a natural part of the cycle. Doesn't feel that early either. Maybe Sony/MS want to have a 7-8 year gap between console launches, but they have to be wary if they can maintain margins for that long. If not, their main competition won't be each other, it'll be other entertainment

Add in more developers moving to ps3/360 as a cheap platform to publish on, producing more basic license titles and IMO there is no clear solution except a next gen launch

 

[Steroyd]

Only in special cases will I not wait a month for the game to go half price.

I'm guilty of only getting super cheap games though, this year so far minus Killzone 3, the average price I've bought games at was £15.

 

[fizzelopeguss]

With the prices retail is putting out over here, Steam can go die in a fucking fire.